Ceremonies have been held in Armenia and around the world to mark the centenary of the start of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

The presidents of France and Russia joined other leaders for the memorial in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died, a figure disputed by Turkey.

Turkey strongly objects to the use of the term genocide to describe the killings and the issue has soured relations between the nations.

Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people. It says many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of war.

A memorial service was held in Turkey on Friday and its prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said the country would “share the pain” of Armenians. But he reiterated Turkey’s stance that the killings were not genocide.

Turkey also hosted ceremonies on Friday to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Gallipoli.

However, the actual fighting there began on 25 April, and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has accused Turkey of “trying to divert world attention” from the Yerevan commemorations.

‘Never again’

After a flower-laying ceremony in Yerevan, Mr Sargsyan addressed the guests, saying: “I am grateful to all those who are here to once again confirm your commitment to human values, to say that nothing is forgotten, that after 100 years we remember.”

In his address, French President Francois Hollande said: “We will never forget the tragedies that your people have endured.”

France has been a strong advocate of recognising the killings as genocide and President Hollande has pushed for a law to punish genocide denial.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the killings as “one of the most tragic disasters in the history of humankind” which “shook the whole world”.

“There cannot be any justification for mass murder of people,” he said. “Today we mourn together with the Armenian people.”

Commemorations in Yerevan drew to a close with a candlelit procession. People carried flowers to the city’s memorial late into the evening.

Elsewhere:

• In Lebanon – home to one of the largest Armenian diasporas – tens of thousands of people attended a march and commemoration service in Beirut
• In Jerusalem, Armenian priests held a two-hour mass in the Old City. Posters outside the church called on Turkey to recognise the mass killings as genocide
• And in Tehran, hundreds of Armenian-Iranians attended a rally from an Armenian church to the Turkish Embassy.

US President Barack Obama issued a carefully worded statement for the anniversary, referring to “one of the worst atrocities of the 20th Century”, without using the term genocide.

During his 2008 presidential election campaign, then senator Obama had vowed to “recognise the Armenian genocide” and in his new statement said: “I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed.”

However, his phrasing has angered Armenian Americans.

Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, said in a statement: “President Obama’s exercise in linguistic gymnastics on the Armenian genocide is unbecoming of the standard he himself set and that of a world leader today.”