Turkey on Wednesday stopped Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik's plane from flying over its territory, preventing him from attending a ceremony to mark the centenary of the Armenian genocide, his cabinet said.

"Although all authorizations for this flight had been initially obtained, Turkish authorities did not allow the flight over their territory," Dodik's cabinet said in a statement.

Turkish leaders on Wednesday expressed satisfaction that the United States appeared to be holding off from describing the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, ahead of the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

One of Turkey's worst nightmares is that President Barack Obama would acknowledge the killings as a genocide on the April 24 anniversary but comments by U.S. officials have indicated that this will not be the case.

Council of Europe chief Thorbjoern Jagland on Wednesday urged Armenia and Turkey to reestablish relations, speaking in Yerevan ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

"If there is a chance of returning to the 2009 protocols, establishing diplomatic relations, I urge both sides to seize it," the head of the pan-European body said at an international forum ahead of the genocide anniversary on Friday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Wednesday that the Lebanese rivals are united concerning the necessity to safeguard the country's coexistence and diversity, considering that the Christian martyrs increased the power of the Church and helped in spreading the religion.

“Lebanon is passing through a delicate situation... and despite the rift, the Lebanese are united regarding the importance of protecting coexistence, diversity and the country's openness,” al-Rahi said from Armenia, where he traveled to attend the centenary commemoration of the Armenian genocide.

She was only a few months old when Ottoman forces came to take away her Armenian father, but a century on Shamiram Sevak can still imagine her dad hugging her tightly to say goodbye.

For thousands of Syrian Armenian refugees in Lebanon, the slaughter and expulsion of their ancestors a century ago is less a historical event than an ongoing trauma.

Though their community is just one of many caught up in Syria's brutal conflict, Syrian Armenians say their fate has been particularly painful because it echoes the tragedy often termed the Armenian genocide.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi traveled to Armenia on Tuesday to attend the centenary commemoration of the Armenian genocide.

Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun telephoned al-Rahi to wish him luck in his trip, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Germany will condemn the massacre a century ago of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces, linking it to 20th century "genocides" for the first time, according to a draft parliamentary resolution hammered out Monday.

After weeks of debate in Berlin and pressure by opposition deputies to adopt the term "genocide" to describe the mass killings 100 years on, German lawmakers drew up a compromise formulation to be debated on Friday.

Turkey shares the pain of Armenians whose parents or grandparents were killed under the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday.

"We once again respectfully remember and share the pain of grandchildren and children of Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives during deportation in 1915," Davutoglu said in a statement released by his office to mark the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

The descendants of Martiros Muradyan cherish like religious relics the few objects he was able to carry with him when he fled the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces a century ago. 

The hand-made rugs and wooden spoons in their home in rural Armenia are the last physical reminders they possess of a life that was long ago torn apart.