Turkey asked China for clarification about the message on aid packages sent to Armenia that alluded to Mount Ağrı (Ararat) in eastern Turkey that borders Armenia, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said Saturday.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said China's Ambassador to Ankara Deng Li and Beijing's Foreign Ministry have shown efforts to resolve the issue.
"Ambassador Deng said their aid packages to Armenia were prepared by a local authority and were sent to Yerevan," said Aksoy. "The aforementioned authority only wrote Chinese scripts on the packs, and there are no references to Mount Ağrı in them. The references, which were written in English, were added later."
Deng is currently investigating the situation, and Turkey will be informed about the results. "With this incident, (Deng) said he has full respect for Turkey's sovereignty and unity of land," Aksoy added.
The aforementioned message on the aid packages read: "May our friendship (be) higher than Mountain Ararat and longer than the Yangtze River."
A dispute between Turkey and Armenia dates to Turkey's position on the events of 1915, which saw the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.
Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of Turkish and Armenian historians, plus international experts, to examine the issue.
