Turkey’s foreign minister has commented on Barack Obama’s remarks on the day marking the killing of Armenians by Turks in 1915, branding them as ‘unacceptable’. Mr Obama had stated that the killings of the Armenians were “one of the greatest atrocities of the 20th Century and appealed to the two nations to address the facts of the past in an effort to move forward.

However, while admitting that many Armenians were killed, Turkey insists that the deaths resulted from wartime fighting. Armenia has campaigned for many years for the events of 1915 to be recognised as genocide. Armenians commemorated the event with ceremonies on Friday.

Mr Obama issued a written statement saying: “I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed...My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts.”

At the same time, Mr Obama avoided using the word ‘genocide’, despite statements during his campaign that the Armenian genocide is a “widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.” He had also stated that “America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides.”