Today Armenians make up one of the largest ethnic communities in Istanbul.

Many came to the Armenian Patriarchy Mother Mary Church for the main memorial service for their ancestors who perished in the mass killings of World War I.

For the first time a member of the Turkish government was present.

The EU Minister Volkan Bozkır said Turkey respected the sorrow that its Armenian brothers had experienced.

“We say this was a bad event, so we’re not opposed to bearing witness and remembering this pain”, the minister told reporters as church bells rang out.

The move was welcomed by religious officials.

“This attendance crowned the promises sharing our grief here. For this reason we are grateful,” said the Spiritual Council Chief Priest, Tatul Anusyan. “For us it’s important to have this date for peace. To learn from grief and not repeat the same mistakes is a duty for all individuals. It is much more important for this land which is the birth place of civilisations. We have to sh