YEREVAN. – The geographical scope of the Armenian Genocide anniversary commemoration events being held in Turkey expanded substantially this year, turkologist Artak Shakaryan stated during a press conference on Thursday.    

In his words, these events are held in Turkey for the fourth year.

“The largest events yesterday [Wednesday, April 24,] took place in Kurdish-populated Diyarbakir [city], moreover, at the mayor’s initiative,” Shakaryan noted.

But he added that even though interesting processes are going on in Turkey, the aforesaid remembrance events do not yet prove that Turkey is taking constructive steps.

“Ultimately, our task is to achieve the Genocide’s recognition by Turkey’s PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” Shakaryan said.

In the turkologist’s words, in actual fact, the Armenian Genocide was first recognized by the Ottoman court itself. 

“Remember the Ottoman court hearings and the sentences. As for full recognition of the Genocide, this assumes compensation, return of seized property, etc.,” Artak Shakaryan concluded.