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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday held a meeting with historians and academicians at the presidential residence, during which he discussed issues related to the 100th anniversary of World War I, Armenian Genocide and Armenia-Turkey relations.

According to the Turkish newspaper Aksam, commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s April 24 visit to Armenia, Erdogan said, “I had a telephone conversation with Putin. I told him that I am upset. I also stressed that our relations have been damaged and that they could be reviewed.”

Erdogan clarified that since Putin preferred to travel to Armenia on April 24, he will not participate in the events marking the 70th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow on May 9 and Turkey’s Ambassador to Russia will attend the ceremonies in Moscow.

Erdogan also reminded about the football diplomacy which aimed at the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. He complained that the steps allegedly taken by Ankara and the outstretched hand for friendship were not responded the same way by the Armenian side. Moreover, Yerevan has started to speak about Turkey using tough wording.

After the three-hour discussion, historian Mustafa Armagan talked to the journalists and revealed some details. In particular, Armagan noted that Erdogan considers that Turkey’s then-president Abdullah Gul’s arrival in Armenia to watch the Armenia-Turkey football match was a wrong step. As regards the recent tension in the relations between Russia and Turkey, Erdogan said that if there is the necessity, they will withdraw their ambassador from Moscow, as well and reconsider the level of their diplomatic relations, according to Armagan.