Politics

Ankara reacts to Armenian President’s remarks on Erdogan’s invitation

Both the spokesperson of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly reacted to recent remarks by Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan in response to an invitation by Erdogan, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“It is impossible to admit remarks by Sargsyan aiming at our president’s invitation to Armenia, which are against the diplomatic practices,” spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın told Anadolu Agency.

“We return the remarks by Mr. Sargsyan, which are not appropriate for a state man,” he said.

Armenia is bidding to turn the year 2015 into a campaign against Turkey and Turks, Kalın said, also blaming Sargsyan for exceeding diplomatic lines.

Erdogan’s invitation to ceremonies marking the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Çanakkale in late April, which coincides with the remembrance day for the Armenian victims of the Armenian Genocide, was  “cynical and shortsighted,” Armenian President Sargsyan said Jan. 29.

“They say any measures are suitable in politics, but I believe  Ankara offered a bad service to itself in this matter,” Sargsyan said .

“Turkey will continue confronting all attempts of manipulation with a one-sided look on history due to an exploitative policy,” Kalın said.

The Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that the Armenian president ignored Turkey’s “humane, logical and realistic” approach once again with the recent remarks and rejected a hand, and invitation with an “unhandsome tone.”

“We strongly condemn a tone that is not appropriate for the leader of neighboring country or a representative of the historic Armenian people,” the statement roughly translates.

Turkey does not ignore the pain that the Armenian people felt during the World War I, the statement read, saying that all nations under the Ottoman Empire in that era, especially Turks suffered.

The statement also highlighted a condolence message by Erdogan on April 23 last year and recalled that the invitation came on Jan. 20, one day after the anniversary of the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, naming it as a “constructive understanding.”

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