Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his condolences to Armenians who lost family members during the World War One, as the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian genocide was marked around the world on Tuesday.

Turkey has never officially acknowledged that events leading to the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians constitute a genocide, though many other countries do.

“It is Turkey's conscientious and ethical responsibility to share the historical pain of our Armenian citizens,” said Erdoğan in a message sent to the Armenian community in Turkey.

He also noted that millions of other Ottoman citizens had died during the war and called on the Armenian community not to aid those trying to incite “hatred and hostility” by distorting what he termed, “our shared past”.

“In the period ahead of us, we will work to find solutions to your problems and troubles and will not discriminate against any of our citizens on account of their beliefs, religion or traditions,” said Erdoğan, “I believe out Armenian citizens will continue to increase their contributions to our cultural, political and business life.”