New rifts

Thousands of Armenians marched across the Armenian capital on Friday to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. The event was staged by the youth wing of the nationalist Dashnak-Tsutyun party.

The demonstrators burned a banner with images of Turkish leaders. They carried placards such as "We demand compensation from Turkey!" and "The recognition time is now!"

A steady stream of people marched to a hilltop to lay flowers at a memorial to the massacres, Armenians insist constituted genocide.

The march comes a day after Armenia said it was halting ratification of a historic reconciliation accord with Turkey that would have normalized ties after decades of hostility over the killings.

Despite the ongoing political tensions, the anniversary was marked for the first time in Turkey. Human rights activists and artists commemorated the massacres, breaking a long-held taboo.

Turkey admits "mistakes"

Armenians say 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.

Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

In Saturday's edition of Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, an opinion piece acknowledged that Ankara had made 'mistakes' in the handling of events that led to the enormous suffering of the Armenian people in 1915.

"I think we Turks have made a terrible mistake for decades by totally overlooking the enormous suffering that the Armenian people went through in 1915. Now is the time to be fairer", Mustafa Akyol wrote.

Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark deal in October to establish diplomatic ties and reopen their border but ratification of the agreement stalled amid mutual accusations that the other side was not committed to reconciliation.

nrt/AFP/Reuters/dpa

Editor: Sonia Phalnikar