Armenians yesterday marked 96 years since the mass killings of their ancestors under the Ottoman Empire amid apparent deadlock in the process of normalising relations with modern Turkey.
Armenia contends the killings were genocide – a label supported by some countries but vehemently opposed by Turkey – and the controversy has poisoned ties between Yerevan and Ankara to this day.
Thousands of people marched though Yerevan to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial dedicated to the victims of the killings, which overlooks the capital, dominated by a needle-shaped stele.
President Serzh Sarkisian said in an address to mark the anniversary that Armenia was open to normalising relations with Turkey but also lashed out at its neighbour and foe for what he said was denial of genocide.
“The true scope and depth of the tragedy is known only to us, and every Armenian in any corner of the world feels devastating repercussions on his or her destiny in every sense,” he said.
“Armenia has been proving through its resolute steps that despite black pages of history, it strives for peace with the neighbours, including Turkey.”
But he added: “Nevertheless, the official policy of Turkey carries on with the course of denial.”
Armenians say that up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey, was falling apart.
The events are marked every year on April 24, when Ottoman authorities rounded up and arrested more than 200 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople in 1915.
Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label and says between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms and sided with invading Russian troops.
US President Barack Obama avoided using the word “genocide” in his traditional anniversary statement but also said “contested history destabilises the present and stains the memory of those whose lives were taken.”
“A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all our interests,” he said, in what could be seen as an implicit call for Turkey to admit the extent of the massacres.
Showing that the historical controversy for now shows no sign of ending, Turkey voiced “deep regret” over Mr Obama’s remarks, slamming them as “one-sided”.
“The statement distorts the historical facts,” the foreign ministry said.
“Therefore, we find it very problematic and deeply regret it... One-sided statements that interpret controversial historical events by a selective sense of justice prevent understanding of the truth,” it added.
Landmark protocols which could have ended decades of hostility and opened up the border were signed in 2009, but Yerevan suspended the ratification process in April last year amid mutual acrimony.
Sarkisian said this month that the process would remain stalled until Ankara ratified the protocols, repeating that Yerevan would not accept any Turkish “preconditions” over the agreement.
The number of Armenian survivors of the tragedy is dwindling each year, with just 141 people who survived the killings still alive in Armenia.