Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS CONDEMNS THE MASS KILLING OF ETHIOPIAN CHRISTIANS BY LIBYAN TERRORISTS

17:14, 21 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, has sent a letter of condolences to His Holiness Abuna
Mathias, Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, on the occasion of
the murder of Ethiopian Christians by Libyan terrorists.

On behalf of the members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin and
the Supreme Spiritual Council, His Holiness conveyed his deepest
sympathies and condolences to His Holiness Abuna Mathias and the
faithful of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

“During these days, when our nation commemorates the 100th anniversary
of Armenian Genocide and calls upon the international community to
stand firm in defending human rights and dignity throughout the world,
strongly condemn the mass killing of our Christian brethren and invite
all people of good will to take the necessary measures to prevent
such crimes and atrocities against humanity”, said His Holiness.

NUMBER OF CHINESE TOURIST VISITS MAY INCREASE STEEPLY – NEWSPAPER

YEREVAN, April 21. /ARKA/. Armenia’s government is to consider,
at its meeting on Saturday, a draft decision that will boost the
number of tourist arrivals from China steeply, Haykakan Zhamanak
(Armenian Time) newspaper said on Tuesday.

Back in July 2014, the Armenian and the Chinese governments signed a
memorandum in Beijing to arrange for Armenia tours for tourist groups
from China.

For this, according to the Chinese laws, Armenia needs to be
included on the Guaranteed Tour Countries list prepared by the
Chinese government.

Armenia was given this status at the end of the last year, and only
a couple of technical issues remain to be solved to start the tours,
the newspaper says. -0–

REMEMBERING THE GENOCIDES OF THE 20TH CENTURY

YNet, Israel
April 19 2015

Op-ed: The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II has
created an opportunity to cast local and global meanings into the
memory of the Holocaust in Israel, beyond the simplistic statement
‘never again.’

Raz Segal

The 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, in which the Ottoman
Empire authorities persecuted, expelled, robbed and murdered about
a million and a half Armenians during World War I, is being marked
around the world this year.

The world is also marking 70 years since the end of World War II –
the end of its European part in May 1945, with the surrender of Nazi
Germany, and its full end in September 1945, after the United States
dropped two atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and killed
tens of thousands of people.

At the same time, the world is also marking the 70th anniversary of
the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in January 1945 –
the camp which turned into the symbol of evil in Western culture,
the mass murder enterprise which slaughtered more than one million
people, almost all of them Jews.

All these processes and events – the two world wars, the Armenian
genocide, the Holocaust and the use of a nuclear weapon – are integral
parts of the 20th century. During this century, the great empires –
the Russian, the German, the Ottoman, the Habsburg, the British,
the French and the Japanese – collapsed, and were replaced with the
development of the international system of the nation states.

At the same time, engineers and scientists developed bureaucratic and
technological means for population management and mass murder at an
unprecedented scale in human history.

The Holocaust did not take place on a different planet, but in the
heart of the modern world and as an integral part of the 20th century
(Photo: Reuters)

The research which has developed over the past two decades about
the Holocaust as part of this history has undermined the idea of the
Holocaust as a unique event. Nonetheless, researchers have reached
a broad agreement that all the persecutions, expulsions and mass
murders gathered under the name “the Holocaust” are an extreme case
of genocide. Some researchers see the Holocaust as a paradigmatic
case of genocide – in other words, the criterion for mass murder.

In any event, these three depictions – unique, extreme and paradigmatic
– create a hierarchy under which even if the Holocaust is not
perceived as completely unusual, it receives a separate reference,
which is reflected in the use of the concept “Shoah” in Hebrew and
“Holocaust” in English.

But if we refer to the Holocaust as an extreme event because of the
almost complete destruction of the post-WWII Jewish cultural world
in Eastern Europe, why not refer to the Armenian genocide, in which
the ancient Armenian communities in eastern Anatolia were destructed,
as an extreme event as well?

And if the intention to murder all the Jews in the areas controlled
by the Germans makes the Holocaust unique or paradigmatic, why not say
that the earlier and more successful attempts to completely annihilate
native populations in the areas which turned into the US, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand in the colonialist violence processes are
the unique or paradigmatic cases?

Such questions, however, preserve the hierarchical way of
thinking about genocide – a way of thinking which is built, even
if unintentionally, on the problematic attempt to determine who
suffered more.

We can, on the other hand, think about the meaning of the memory of
the Holocaust in a world in which the memory of the Armenian genocide
is still subject to a strong attack of official denial from Turkey,
which has grown out of this violence, and the attempt to build an
ethno-national state without Armenians and other groups.

We can also inquire about the connection between the memory of the
Holocaust in the Western world and the vague memory of destroying
entire cultures which were replaced by popular travel spots, like
California.

The Holocaust, in other words, did not take place on a different
planet, but in the heart of the modern world and as an inseparable
part of the 20th century. This year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day,
which was held at the same time as the commemoration of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian genocide and the 70th anniversary of the
end of WWII, has therefore created an opportunity to cast into the
memory of the Holocaust in Israel both local and global meanings,
way beyond the simplistic statement “never again.”

Dr. Raz Segal is a Thomas Arthur Arnold postdoctoral fellow at the
Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies at Tel Aviv University.

,7340,L-4648546,00.html

EGYPT SENDS DELEGATION FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

09:14, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

An Egyptian delegation of Christian clergymen will attend the hundredth
anniversary of the Armenian genocide this week, state news agency
MENA reported Sunday.

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II will head a delegation of 55
people, including Armenian expats in Egypt and journalists, to attend
the genocide’s centennial in the Armenian capital Yerevan from 20 –
26 April.

Several heads of state are also expected to attend the memorial,
including French President Francois Hollande, Russian President
Vladimir Putin and President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades. Delegations
from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait and UAE will also be present.

TURKEY TO CONVERT HAGIA SOFIA BASILICA INTO MOSQUE OVER POPE’S ARMENIAN GENOCIDE STATEMENT

10:59, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Irked by Pope Francis’ statement on the Armenian mass killings,
Turkey is planning to convert the historic Hagia Sofia Catheral into
a Muslim prayer house, a top Turkish Islamic leader said.

“Frankly, I believe that the pope’s remarks will only accelerate
the process for Hagia Sophia to be re-opened for [Muslim] worship,”
Professor Mefail Hızlı, the mufti of Ankara, said in a written
statement released late April 15, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

According to Hızlı, the pope’s statement “has reflected a
modern color of the crusader wars launched in these lands for
centuries.” These lands have long been the “standard bearer” of the
Muslim world, meaning many enemies, both from inside and outside of
the country, have been launching attacks with different methods.

“The statement that the Catholic world’s spiritual leader pope
delivered on April 12, saying Armenians had been subjected to a
genocide, is extremely spectacular,” Hızlı said, noting that the
pope’s statement was intruding on the realm of historians and was
hastily made.

FOUNDING PARLIAMENT: DEMANDING “ISOLATION” OF ACTIVISTS CALLING FOR APRIL 24 RALLY “NONSENSE”

POLITICS | 20.04.15 | 09:57

A radical opposition group seeking regime change in Armenia has struck
a defiant note responding to the statement by a senior member of the
ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) who said over the weekend that
those who call for holding protests on April 24 should be “isolated”.

Vahram Baghdasaryan, the leader of the RPA’s parliamentary faction,
said in an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Saturday that
the ruling party was not afraid of the challenge launched by the
Founding Parliament, but still considered that “the people who have
Armenian names in their passports, but show such an attitude towards
April 24, should be isolated.”

Baghdasaryan was reacting to the appeals made by activists of the
Founding Parliament during a Friday rally in Yerevan’s Liberty Square.

They, in particular, said that despite the arrests of five leading
members of the group they were determined to launch nonstop
anti-government rallies on the day when large-scale public events
are planned in Yerevan to mark the Armenian Genocide Centennial.

The Founding Parliament members and supporters emphasized, however,
that their protests were not intended to diminish the significance
of the day, but were only aimed against the current regime that they
consider to be “antinational”.

In a statement released on Sunday the Founding Parliament voiced
concerns that the statement made by the senior representative of the
governing party could mean more persecution of its members in the
coming days.

“Making a demand to isolate those who call for a rally on April 24 is
a nonsense both politically and legally, as holding a rally is a right
guaranteed by the Armenian Constitution and international treaties,”
the group said.

“No illegal step and repression on the part of the regime can stop
the course of the movement,” the Founding Parliament concluded.

Authorities in Yerevan approved the Founding Parliament’s bid to hold a
rally in Yerevan on April 24, but suggested that it gather its members
in the area near the Erebuni Museum on the outskirts of the city.

Still, there appears to be an overwhelming body of opinion in Armenia
and across its political spectrum that no political protests should
be held on the day when the nation will be mourning the deaths of
1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey on the 100th anniversary of
the Genocide.

LE CCAF CONDAMNE L’ATTITUDE DE L’AUSTRALIE A L’EGARD DE LA COMMEMORATION DU CENTENAIRE DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

COMMUNIQUE DU CCAF
Visite le 21 avril a Paris de Julie Bishop, ministre australienne des
Affaires etrangères :

Visite le 21 avril a Paris de Julie Bishop, ministre australienne
des Affaires etrangères : Le CCAF condamne l’attitude de l’Australie
a l’egard de la commemoration du centenaire du Genocide armenien.

Le 24 avril 2015 auront lieu en Armenie les commemorations du
centenaire du Genocide armenien auxquelles assistera notamment le
President de la Republique, M. Francois Hollande.

La Turquie tente par tous les moyens de dissuader les chefs d’Etat et
de gouvernement de se rendre en Armenie a cette occasion. A cette fin,
Ankara organisera le meme jour, soit le 24 avril, la commemoration
du centenaire du debarquement de Gallipoli, alors que la date de
ce centenaire tombait le 25 avril et non le 24 avril. Ainsi, chaque
annee, le 25 avril et partout dans le monde, l’Australie commemore
le debarquement de Gallipoli sous le nom d’ANZAC day.

Malheureusement cette annee, l’Australie, repondant a la demande
d’Ankara, a accepte d’avancer d’un jour les commemorations. Les
premiers ministres australiens, neo-zelandais et d’autres chefs d’Etat
et de gouvernement seront donc a Gallipoli, le 24 avril 2015, jour
du centenaire du Genocide armenien et apporteront ainsi leur caution
au negationnisme d’Etat pratique en Turquie.

La mascarade negationniste que jouera le gouvernement turc le 24
avril 2015, n’aurait pas pu avoir lieu si le gouvernement australien
avait insiste pour que les commemorations de Gallipoli aient lieu
le 25 et non le 24 avril. De plus, non content d’insulter la memoire
des victimes du Genocide armenien, le gouvernement australien salit
egalement celles des soldats australiens morts a Gallipoli. Ceux-ci
sont en effet tombes a partir du 25 avril 1915, en combattant la
machine exterminationniste qui venait la veille de se mettre en marche
contre les citoyens armeniens de l’Empire ottoman.

Enfin pour achever de complaire aux autorites turques, le gouvernement
australien ne sera represente par personne aux commemorations du
Genocide, le 24 avril en Armenie.

Comme Mme Julie Bishop l’avait indique a M. Ahmet Davutoglu par ecrit,
le 15 mai 2014 (cf lettre en PJ de ce communique), l’Australie a donc
clairement choisi son camp : celui des negationnistes de l’Etat turc
contre celui des descendants des victimes du Genocide armenien.

Bureau national du CCAF

lundi 20 avril 2015, Ara (c)armenews.com

TESSA HOFMANN: IN CONTEXT OF GENOCIDE, EVASIVENESS TRANSFORMS INTO ENCOURAGEMENT OF FURTHER CRIMES

What is taking place in Germany ahead of April 24 – the country,
which, according to many experts, is to some extent responsible for
the Armenian Genocide, the country, which perpetrated the Holocaust,
but repented and continues compensating the damage to the Jews up to
this day?

In an interview with the Golos Armenii newspaper, Tessa Hofmann,
a renowned German scholar and human rights activist, the head of
the Working Group “Affirmation” – Against Genocide, commented on
these issues.

– The media claims that a difficult situation has emerged in Bundestag
with the document on Armenian Genocide. How would you characterize
this situation and what kind of document shall we expect to be adopted?

– On 24 April 2015, two motions for resolutions will be discussed
by the Federal German Parliament (Bundestag) in the course of only
20 minutes: one is from the oppositional socialist party Die Linke
(The Left) and contains the demand for official recognition of the
genocide against the Armenians; the other derives from the ruling
conservative-social democrat coalition and is said to have contained
originally the term genocide, which, however, was cancelled after the
intervention of the German Foreign Office and the leadership of both
coalition parties. The text of the revised version of the coalition
parties (without the term genocide) has not yet been published,
but the headline contains the two key-words that the Federal
Government has ever used since 2005 to avoid a legal evaluation of
the crimes committed in 1915/6 against the Ottoman Armenians and
other Christian ethnic groups, mainly Aramaic speaking Christians
(Arameans/Assyrians/Chaldeans) and Orthodox Greeks.

The resolution of the oppositional party has no chance of acceptance.

The evasive terms used by the Bundestag in its non-legislative
resolution of 2005 and subsequently by the German government are
‘expulsion’ and ‘massacres’. In particular ‘expulsion’ is a misleading
term and a minimization if scored against the historic facts: During
WW1, Ottoman Armenians were not just chased over the nearest borders.

They did not get such chance to escape the government-planned
extermination. Armenians were driven under armed guards southwards
into the Mesopotamian areas of massive starvation and slaughtered
in 1916 or burnt alive if they did not perish from starvation soon
enough. Deportation, or forcible population transfer are legal terms
and crimes against humanity according to the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court (1998); expulsion is not such a term.

The political position behind these evasive terms is obvious: Official
Germany supports the official Turkish position that there still exists
a need for academic clarification- despite at least 30 years of intense
international academic research with the participation of Turkish,
Armenian and other scholars. The German government and legislators
deliberately ignore not only the results of profound genocide and
historic studies, but also the expertise of the International Center
for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) which has been commissioned by the
Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) in 2001. In its
report, ICTJ already in 2003 confirmed the applicability of the UN
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on
the ‘events’ of 1915. In the past, the German Bundestag was well aware
of the existence of TARC and used it in 2001 as argument to decline
a joint recognition petition of Armenian, Turkish and German NGOs.

On 24 April 2015, the Bundestag in all probability will repeat its
resolution of 2005 in which it avoided the term genocide. Instead of
expressing an own legal opinion, the Bundestag ten years ago promised
to support Turks and Armenians in their dialogue. The fiction of this
non-existing bi-lateral dialogue may be further repeated, whereas the
reality of the already existing collaboration of Armenian and Turkish
scholars is ignored once they come to the result of genocide in 1915.

– The German press informed, that in the events dedicated to the
centenary of Armenian Genocide the German President Joachim Gauck will
take part for the first time. How would you assess this step? This is
somehow against the official position of German authorities, isn’t it?

– The Federal Government declined any own commemorative events or
activities. But the Presidential Office confirmed that President
Gauck will participate in non-public church service of 23 April which
is organized by the Armenian Orthodox Diocese, the Protestant and
Catholic Churches of Germany. So far, Gauck did not use the term
genocide, but evasively speaks about the ‘pain of the Armenians’,
which again resembles the official Turkish terminology. Since 2010,
official Turkish statements by Davutoglu, since 2014 also by Erdogan,
admit Armenian ‘pain’, while at the same time denying a state intended
genocide.

There is no contradiction between the acknowledgement of ‘pain’
by the German president and the 2005 resolution of the Bundestag,
or any official version of the AKP governments in Turkey.

The practical implications of such evasiveness and half-heartedness
in German history and memory politics go far beyond words. In Germany,
mayors decide whether memorials are erected in cities or towns.

Despite the centenary, several municipal heads and/or administrations
declined applications of citizens to erect – on the expenses of the
applicants! – memorials in commemoration of the genocide against
Ottoman Christians. In Cologne, the city’s administration refused to
accept the offer of Mr. Erdal Þahin (a Turkey born Alevi from Dersim)
to erect a memorial for the Armenian genocide. In the town of Leer,
the recent mayor (a Social-Democrat) told Mr. Albert Tovmasyan,
who initiated the erection of a khachkar that the cross-stone would
not be allowed to bear a dedication with the word genocide, although
Tovmasyan has earlier received the permission of a previous mayor
for the erection of a genocide memorial in the public space of
Leer. In Gutersloh (Land Lower Saxony) the city council declined
the erection of a memorial commemorating the destruction of the
Arameans/Assyrians/Chaldeans, although there is a large community of
Arameans in Gutersloh and its vicinity, many of them descendants of
genocide survivors.

To the Turkey born communities of Germany belong Armenians, Kurds
and Turks. While German governmental statements still dwell on the
necessity of Armenian-Turkish dialogue, German local, regional or
federal decision-makers miss their ample chances of genocide awareness
education among these communities, of encouraging those Turkey born
residents of Germany who acknowledge the Ottoman crimes as genocide
or want to know about them.

– The position of Germany regarding the issue of Armenian Genocide
has always been of paramount importance, taking into consideration
the important role played by Germany in the events in early XX century.

The Bundestag has once adopted a resolution, yet refrained from
employing the word ‘genocide’. Are there any chances this term may be
included in documents of legislative level anytime in the near future?

– To be honest, I do not see such a perspective in the near future.

– Germany has acknowledged and atoned for the Holocaust. Yet,
acknowledging the crime against the Jews, Germany refuses to recognize
a similar crime against the Armenian people perpetrated by Turkey.

What do you think is the reason for that? Only close partnership
with Turkey?

– Germany has been involved into three genocides; for two of them –
Namibia (1904-1908) and the destruction of the Jews of Europe during
WW2 – Germany bears full and only responsibility. In the case of the
genocide against the Armenians and other co-victims Germany decided
to remain a passive bystander and benefitted from the unpaid slave
labor of Armenian men, women and even children at the construction
sites of the Baghdad Railway. Survivors of the Armenian genocide such
as Archbishop Grigoris Palakyan (Balakian) in their memoirs accused
certain Germans for stimulating the idea of deportation among their
Young Turkish allies. Several of the high-ranking German officers who
served in the Ottoman forces gave deportation orders despite their
knowledge about the fatal consequences for the deportees. The German
Imperial Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg refused to distance Germany
from the Ottoman policies against the Armenians, arguing that the
military alliance with the CUP regime was of highest priority,
“even if Armenians perish”.

Whereas the misconduct of the Imperial German Government during
WW1 explains by its military alliance with the Ottomans, relations
between Turkey and Germany of today are much less relevant. Both are
NATO members, but that alone does not explain the repeated refusal of
German governments to juridically evaluate the Ottoman crimes of the
WW1 period or to condemn these crimes as genocide. I believe that those
of my countrymen who bear the responsibility for state politics, act
by tradition and in difference to our neighbors in France, Switzerland
or Sweden. Our tradition is shaped by pronounced national or even
personal self-interests, the lack of humanitarian visions and values
and the failure to act according to human rights principles.

Consideration for votes from Turkey born constituencies is an
additional factor why German MPs refrain from confrontations with
Turkey and Turkish diasporas.

Let me add, that the evasiveness and half-heartedness of official
Germany is not only shameful (for Germans) or painful (for Armenians),
but first of all internationally dangerous. Drawing conclusions
during these April days of commemoration, we must answer the following
question: Can three million people be killed and the perpetrators get
away with it? The current conduct of German MPs and state politicians
is a tacit ‘yes’. In the case of the three million Ottoman Christians,
who were murdered during 1912-1922, most perpetrators ended their
lives without being ever called to justice. Therefore their crimes
can and must be unambiguously condemned by politicians and statesmen
of today. In the context of genocide, evasiveness transforms into
the encouragement of further crimes.

– Recently President Erdogan has urged the Armenians “to show “archive
documents” about the genocide. How would you respond to this, as a
prominent genocide scholar?

– It is Erdogan’s very cheap attempt to buy time. Relevant primary,
i.e. archival sources have been documented, published and analyzed over
the last 40 years. Many of them are published in the World Wide Web and
made searchable, such as contemporary German diplomatic correspondence,
Ottoman archival documents and documents from neutral diplomats on
the site ‘Armenocide.net’. Already years ago the German government
handed over copies of the relevant German archival documents to the
governments of Turkey and Armenia. If Turkey has lost her set of
copies, I shall with pleasure buy a notebook for Mr.

Erdogan. He can then in a convenient for him way research the sites of
‘Armenocide.net’ and others, where Turkish and English translations
help him over the linguistic gap. But he can also give on-line orders
for the numerous Turkish editions of such primary sources.

20.04.15, 13:14

FRANCE 24 TO LIVE BROADCAST GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION CEREMONIES IN ARMENIA

23:27, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Since April 18th until April 24th, to mark the centenary of
the Armenian genocide, France 24 is offering a special series of
programmes dedicated to the Armenian people, its history and culture,
on its three channels (in English, in French and in Arabic).

Provisional programme:

>From 18 to 24 April:

REPORTERS – First broadcast Saturday 18 April at 21.10 (repeated
during the week)

Format: 17 min

Presentation: Mark Owen

In 1915, the first genocide of the 20th century claimed one and a half
million victims. The Ottoman government had ordered the extermination
of the Armenian people. But between 100,000 and 200,000 women and
children survived, becoming Islamised and integrated into the Kurdish
and Turkish populations. Today, their descendants are discovering
Armenian roots that have lain hidden for generations. Some are
researching their ancestors to reclaim their history and culture;
others are considering converting to Christianity.

Report by Achren Verdian and Johan Bodin.

On 23 and 24 April:

FOCUS – First broadcasts at 06.45 (repeated all day long)

France 24 will propose two long-format reports dedicated to two towns
with important Armenian communities: the Lebanese town of Anjar in
the Bekaa Valley, and Marseille, the cradle of the Armenian community
in France.

Reporting in Lebanon by Selim El Meddeb and Adam Pletts.

Reporting in Marseille by Noufissa Charai and Luke Shrago.

On 24 April:

>From 06.30 and throughout the day, France 24 will live broadcast
the ceremonies taking place in the Armenian capital in the presence
of numerous Heads of State.

At 12.15, France 24’s cultural programme Encore! (A l’affiche! on
the French channel) will also be dedicated to Armenian artists with a
special show in Yerevan. Among others, Tigram Hamazyan, jazz pianist,
and the photographer Antoine Agoudjian, will be guests of Eve Jackson
and Sonia Patricelli.

The channel will also punctuate its news bulletins with contributions
and reports from its correspondents and reporters in Armenia,
France and around the world. Finally, this special programming will
be accompanied by excerpts of recent exclusive interviews with the
Armenian and Turkish Presidents, Serzh Sargsyan and Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.

France24.com will also publish a new webdocumentary devoted to the
survivors of the 1915 genocide, who managed to pass on their ancient
history and culture to succeeding generations. The webdocumentary will
contain a number of portraits of descendants of survivors who have
taken up the torch and, in their own way, maintained the heritage of
an entire nation.

DOMINICAN NEWSPAPER: TURKEY IS ACCUSED OF CHANGING GALLIPOLI BATTLE DATES

21:38, 20.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia
Theme: Politics, Analytics

The subject of the Armenian Genocide continues to be publicized in
the farthest corners of the world. The Dominican newspaper Hoy devoted
one of its publications to that topic.

“According to the Turkish side critics, the decision by the Turkish
authorities to put off the events dedicated to the Centenary of the
Battle at Gallipoli can be an attempt to cover Armenians’ initiatives
for 100th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide,” the newspaper writes.

“Just as last year, Ankara authorities confirmed the decision to hold
the events dedicate to the Centennial of the Battle at Gallipoli on
April 24 – a day before the Soviet Army landed on April 25, 1915.

According to Armenia and many other countries, the mass annihilations
in the Ottoman Empire cost the lives of 1,5 million Armenians and
were planned beforehand.

World leaders have come to confront a difficult choice in terms of
which country to visit. Among those leaders is Russia’s President
Vladimir Putin, who, according to the newspaper Kommersant, will
nonetheless head to Armenia, while the Parliament Speaker – the forth
official representative of the country by office – will visit Turkey,”
the newspaper reports.