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Turkey has closed its airspace to Armenian flights heading to a third destination in response to the unveiling of a controversial monument in Yerevan last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

The monument commemorates those involved in an assassination plot against Ottoman Turkish officials whom Armenia holds responsible for mass killings of ethnic Armenians during World War One. Yerevan says the killings constitute a genocide, a charge Ankara denies.

Turkey is crying about the unveiling of a statue in Armenia honoring the heroes who courageously brought to justice the collaborators and perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.

Let us never forget the heroes of Operation Nemesis.

May their memory be eternal.

— Alex Galitsky (@algalitsky)

Press Release Regarding the Unveiling of the “Nemesis Monument” in Yerevan, the Capital of Armenia

— Turkish MFA (@MFATurkiye)

Speaking to broadcaster NTV, Cavusoglu said Turkey would take further steps if the monument is not removed.

Ankara has not had diplomatic or commercial ties with Armenia since the 1990s.

The two nations are at odds primarily over the 1.5 million people that Armenia says were killed in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor to modern Turkey. Armenia says this constitutes genocide, a charge Turkey denies.

But in February 2022, the two countries resumed their first commercial flights in two years as part of cautious efforts to normalise strained ties. In February this year, a border gate between the neighbours was opened for the first time in 35 years to allow aid for victims of the devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey.

(Agencies)