Kikapu wrote:Turkey eclipses centenary of Armenian massacre by moving Gallipoli memorial
Change of date by Ankara, which leads to a clash of commemoration ceremonies, condemned as ‘indecent manoeuvre’
Turkey has been accused of belittling the imminent centenary of the Armenian genocide by advancing its Gallipoli commemorations to the same day.
The anniversary of the 1915 military operations on the Gallipoli peninsula has always been marked on 25 April, the day after commemorations of the massacre of more than 1 million Armenians in the Ottoman empire. This year, however, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has invited state leaders to join him in Gallipoli on 24 April.
“This is a very indecent political manoeuvre,” said Ohannes Kılıçdağı, a researcher and writer for Agos, an Armenian weekly. “It’s cheap politics to try to dissolve the pressure on Turkey in the year of the centennial by organising this event.
“Everybody knows that the two memorials around Gallipoli have been held on 18 March and 25 April every year.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/a ... e-genocide
Well what they do is up to them.
At the end of the day, the Armenian commemoration went ahead without a hitch.
World leaders always arrive in Gallipoli on the 24th or even 23rd. The memorial is in fact a Dawn Service.
You will be happy to note that Australian and NZ PM did not join Erdogan on the 24th. They met with him but chose to spend time visiting the Greek Orthodox Patriarch before spending the rest of the day with RAN and RNZN Sailors on board some frigates where they dined with the ship's crews on the eve.
