Only about 20 heads of states will be attending the Turkish government’s centenary commemorations of World War I’s Gallipoli Campaign — also known as the Battle of Çanakkale — on April 24-25, a date chosen to deflect attention from Armenia’s centennial commemoration of what they consider to be genocide.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had invited 102 heads of state, including Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan, to the Gallipoli commemorations, which are traditionally commemorated on March 18 every year. Sarksyan in an open letter to Erdoğan turned down the invitation and called on Turkey to stop its “denial policy.” report Zaman
Sarksyan had previously invited Erdoğan to the centennial commemorations of the Armenian “genocide” in Yerevan. Turkey denies that the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in 1915 at the end of World War I amount to genocide.
The Prime Ministry’s Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) announced on Wednesday that the 100th anniversary of the battles of Gallipoli in Çanakkale and the İstanbul Peace Summit to be held on April 23-25 will be attended by senior representatives from 73 states, including 20 heads of state, three parliamentary speakers, three vice presidents, five prime ministers, two former presidents, 28 ministers, seven deputy ministers and five general secretaries of international organisations.
Today’s Zaman has learned the Arab League was not among the international organizations that were invited to the Gallipoli ceremonies.
A foreign diplomat in Ankara told Today’s Zaman the Turkish government at first stressed that the invitations were originally only for heads of states, heads of governments and ministers but after receiving poor responses, the government notified the embassies in Ankara that invitations to the Gallipoli commemorations are also extended to ambassadors as well.
A number of countries, including the US, are attending the commemorations at the ambassadorial level. A US Embassy spokesperson told Today’s Zaman on Wednesday “Ambassador [John] Bass will be the US representative at the Çanakkale ceremony.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin will be going to Yerevan for the centennial commemorations in Armenia, while Russian Duma speaker Sergey Naryshkin will be attending the April 24 Gallipoli events.
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic will also be attending the ceremonies in Yerevan, while the country is sending its First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic to attend the Gallipoli commemorations.
French President François Hollande will also be attending the ceremonies in Yerevan and is sending a minister of war veterans to the ceremonies in Turkey.