Number of countries to attend Turkey’s Gallipoli events drops by 25

PanARMENIAN.Net - The number of countries to be represented April 24 at the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I, dropped by 25, according to Agos.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that invitation letters had been sent to 102 leaders.

The figure has now decreased to 77, with Ankara attempting to increase the number of participants. So far, only the arrival of the Charles, Prince of Wales and his son Prince Harry has been confirmed.

French and Russian leaders Francois Hollande and Vladimir Putin confirmed their participation in the Armenian Genocide centennial events on April 24 in Yerevan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent official invitations to more than 100 world leaders, including Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, to take part in the ceremonies dedicated to 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I. The date designated for these commemoration events—April 24—created uproar among Armenians worldwide, while Turkish human rights groups urged world leaders to boycott the Gallipoli events.

On Jan. 16, Sargsyan responded to Erdogan’s invitation to Turkey in a strongly worded letter. “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, even though the battle began on March 18, 1915 and lasted until late January 1916, while the Allies’ operation started on April 25,” he wrote, adding, “What is the purpose [of this] if not to distract the world’s attention from the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide?”