Putin aware of Erdogan's criticism over Armenian genocide
MOSCOW. April 27 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is aware of comments by his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Monday in which the Turkish leader slammed Putin for describing massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as "genocide," Putin's spokesman said on Monday.
Putin, who used the word during a recent visit to Armenia, was told about Erdogan's remarks after returning to Moscow, Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This was naturally reported to the president along with other information for today," the spokesman said.
Asked whether Erdogan's comments might affect Russian-Turkish relations, including Turkish Stream and other joint projects, Peskov said: "Oh no, we have already said that, unquestionably, the further development of our diverse cooperation is a priority for us. In this case, we hope that our relations will continue to develop as steadily as they have done until now."
"There are a great deal of joint projects that we are working on, and there's a lot for us to do," he added.
Earlier, Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara: "It wasn't the first time Russia used the word 'genocide' in reference to that issue... What is happening in Ukraine and in Crimea is obvious. They should explain that before speaking of genocide."