Armenians around the world are commemorating the 95th anniversry of the tragic events in Ottoman Turkey during WW1, which are regarded in Armenia as the genocide of the Armenian nation.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan laid a wreath at the memorial in Yerevan, News-Armenia reports. He was accompanied by prime minister Tigran Sarkisyan, the Catholicos of all Armenians Geregin II, the speaker of the national council Gagik Arutyunyan, parliamentary deputies and members of the government. The Catholicosread the Lord's prayer by the eternal flame.
In an interview to RIA-Novosti, Serzh Sargsyan said that he was not giving up on the idea of normalising relations with Turkey, but the future would depend on Ankara. "The fact that Armenia stopped ratification of the agreement in parliament does not mean that dialogue has completely ceased. He said that the general political aim of normalisation of relations with Turkey was still in force.
Nevertheless, in a speech on April 22nd he said that the struggle of Armenians for international recognition of their genocide would continue.
Turkey reacts negatively to Armenia's position on this, and proposes the creation of a united commission of historians to resolve the problem, which Armenia has refused to do.
