Erdogan once again states that Armenians of  Ottoman Empire passed  away under harsh conditions imposed by World War I

ArmInfo. In his address on April 24 of this year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again stated that the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire passed away under the harsh conditions imposed by the World War I.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Armenian Service, in a  letter of condolences to the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, Sahak  Mashalian, Erdogan wrote that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was  accompanied by clashes, gang warfare, terrorist attacks, and  epidemics, during which, among other peoples, Armenians suffered  greatly.

 Erdogan's message was read during a service at an Armenian church in  Istanbul. "We prefer agreement to conflict," the Turkish president  wrote, without addressing the issue of normalizing relations between  Armenia and Turkey. We continue to work and struggle together with  all compatriots and friends, regardless of their nationality and  religious affiliation, to achieve more desirable days based on peace,  prosperity, and brotherhood," he noted.

It should be noted that official Ankara continues to deny and does  not recognize the Armenian Genocide.