Armenia must react to the inauguration of a monument in the capital Yerevan glorifying the assassinators of Ottoman and Azerbaijani officials in the early 1920s, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said on Tuesday.
During a program to launch a book on the presidency’s political committees in the capital Ankara, Kalın explained that the Armenian government has been contacted with regards to the monument. On the other hand, the Armenian central government responded to Türkiye that the memorial was the work of the Yerevan local municipality.
“I believe that if the central government has a different stance, it can react to the incident,” Kalın said.
He continued to say that this move “could not be left without an answer,” referring to Türkiye shutting its airspace to Armenian flights heading to a third destination.
Ankara earlier condemned the inauguration of the monument.
“We strongly condemn the opening of the ‘Nemesis Monument’ in Yerevan, which is dedicated to the perpetrators of the assassinations against Ottoman political and military leaders in the early 1920s, and Azerbaijani officials of the time, as well as even some Ottoman citizens of Armenian origin,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The opening of this shameful monument glorifies a bloody act of terror that led to heinous terrorist attacks in which 31 of our diplomats and their family members were murdered,” it said.
