Armenian president responds to Turkish counterpart’s invitation

YEREVAN, January 16. / ARKA /. Armenia's President Sargsyan Armenia responded to a letter sent by his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyib Erdogaт inviting him to visit Turkey on April 24 to attend ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli. Serzh Sargsyan’s letter reads as follows:

"Dear Mr. President, I received your letter to participate in the commemoration ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli. Armenian artilleryman, Captain Sargis Torosyan, joined the troops of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Gallipoli and was an officer who was self-dedicated to ensuring the defense and security of the Empire. 

That same year, the wave of massacres and forceful deportations planned and perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people also led to the death of even Sargis Torosyan. His parents were among the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in the massacres, while his sister perished in the Syrian desert.

It was as a result of that unprecedented massacre that Rafael Lemkin coined the term “genocide”, and it was the impunity of that crime that prepared ground for the Holocaust and the genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia and Darfur. 

According to you, the battle of Gallipoli is a unique example of a friendship born from war not only for Turkey but also for the entire world, while the battle field is a monument of peace and friendship reminding the bitter legacy of war. 

Leaving aside the significance of the Battle of Gallipoli or Turkey’s disputed role during WWI and WWII, we need to remember that peace and friendship must first be hinged on the courage to confront one’s own past, historical justice and universal memory. Alas, Turkey continues its conventional denial policy and is “perfecting” its instrumentation for distorting history. 

This time Turkey is marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24, but the battle began on March 18, 1915 and lasted until late January 1916, after which the allies’ operation started on April 25. What is the purpose if not to distract the world’s attention from the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide? I would advise you to remember in your calls for world peace to make a call to the world to recognize the Armenian Genocide and commemorate the 1.5 million innocent victims. 

Each of us has a duty to transmit the real story to the future generations and prevent the repetition of crimes and prepare ground for the rapprochement and future cooperation between peoples, especially neighboring peoples.

P.S. Your Excellency, a couple of months ago, I invited you to Yerevan to respect the memory of the innocent martyrs of the Armenian Genocide together on April 24, 2015. Armenians don’t accept being hosted by the guest without receiving a response to the guest’s invitation.”-0-