Armenian and Turkish actors for 43 hours shook hands in Tbilisi

The action of the most long handshake (The Longest Handshake) with the participation of actors from Armenia and Turkey, which lasted 43 hours, ended in Tbilisi, Interfax reports. The participants in the event sought to demonstrate the possibility of establishing relations between Armenia and Turkey.

It was organized on the initiative of Armenian and Turkish entrepreneurs and cultural figures with the support of Tango Network (Turkish and Armenian Ngo's Network), which unites Armenian and Turkish non -profit organizations.

The action was attended by Ovanes Azhinyan, actor of the Yerevan Pantomime Theater, and his colleague Danis Barish from the Turkish Mersin.

Throughout the event, a live broadcast from the scene was carried out on the Internet, and everyone could watch how, regardless of the rain, wind and cold (at night the air temperature was lowered to minus 3), the Adzhines and Barish continued the handshake. The whole process was recorded on video cameras. Now the organizers are preparing an application for the Guinness Book of Records.

Diplomatic relations have not yet been established between Armenia and Turkey. The stumbling block in relations between the two countries remain the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. The fact of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, as a result of which, according to various sources, more than 1.5 million people were destroyed, a number of states were recognized. Armenia achieves from Turkey recognition of the fact of genocide, but Türkiye refuses to do this.

For its part, the official Ankara requires resolving the Karabakh conflict based on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.