Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited his Armenian counterpart to attend commemoration ceremonies in Turkey marking the 100th anniversary of the World War I Gallipoli campaign this year, officials said Friday.

In a surprise move, Erdogan has sent invitation letters to more than 100 leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and the Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, to participate in the Gallipoli centenary on April 24, two Turkish officials contacted by AFP confirmed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian, to attend commemoration ceremonies in Turkey marking the 100th anniversary of the World War I Gallipoli campaign this year, a report said Friday.

In a surprise move, Erdogan has sent invitation letters to more than 100 leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and the Armenian president, to participate in the Gallipoli centenary on April 23-24, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

Hundreds of angry Armenians protested near a Russian military base Wednesday, demanding that a soldier accused of murdering a family of six be delivered to Armenian justice authorities for trial.

Russian conscript Valery Permyakov is suspected of having shot dead an entire family in the city of Gyumri, including a two-year-old child. Another infant was gravely injured.

Less than 10 percent of Turks believe their government should recognize the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

On the 100th anniversary of the tragedy this year, the poll revealed that only 9.1 percent of those questioned believe Ankara should apologize for the deaths during Ottoman rule in 1915 and describe them as genocide.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday Ankara would "actively" challenge a campaign pressuring Turkey to recognize as genocide the mass killings of Armenians in World War I, on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy this year.

"I believe that both the foreign ministry and the relevant institutions will actively counter those allegations," Erdogan told Turkey's ambassadors in a keynote speech, adding that discussions were already under way to detail an action plan.

Turkey and Armenia should not expect to resolve a long-running dispute over the mass killing of Armenians in World War I on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy in 2015, a top adviser to the prime minister said.

Armenia and its diaspora want Turkey to recognize the mass killings of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 as genocide, something Turkey has so far vehemently resisted.

Azerbaijani troops on Monday killed an ethnic Armenian soldier in a fresh clash with the army of the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region, the separatists said.

"Serviceman Garik Ispirian, 19, was fatally wounded on the eastern sector" of the volatile frontline that divides Azerbaijani and Karabakh forces, the separatist defense ministry said in a statement.

Armenian troops on Thursday killed an Azerbaijani soldier, the defense ministry in Baku said, amid escalating tensions in the longstanding conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

Last week, Armenia threatened "grave consequences" after Azerbaijani forces shot down a helicopter belonging to the army of the breakaway ethnic Armenian region.

Armenia threatened 'grave consequences' Wednesday after Azerbaijani forces shot down a military helicopter, sparking fears of a major escalation in the conflict over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.

The downing of the helicopter belonging to the army of the breakaway ethnic Armenian region is the most serious incident on the Karabakh border since the 1994 ceasefire that ended a bloody war that cost 30,000 lives.

Turkey needs to develop a strategy to counter pressure to acknowledge the World War I killings of Armenians as a genocide as the 100th anniversary of the massacres looms, a top Turkish diplomat said Monday.

Altay Cengizer, director general for policy planning at the Turkish foreign ministry, told the Hurriyet daily that U.S.-based Armenian diaspora groups saw the centenary as an opportunity to prove that genocide was carried out and planned by the Ottoman authorities.