PM ERDOGAN CRITICIZES AIMS OF ARMENIAN DIASPORA IN US

Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 1 2007

Speaking to members of the US-based Turkish Society on the last day
his US visit, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to the
ongoing debate over the so-called Armenian genocide, noting that the
events of 1915 should be left to historians to discuss.

Addressing an audience of Turkish Society representatives and others,
PM Erdogan referred to a recent visit made by the spiritual leader
of the Armenians in Turkey, Patriarch Mesrob II, noting "Look, they
didn’t even want Armenian Patriarch Mutafian to speak here. Why didn’t
they want him to speak? Because the Armenians who live amongst us in
Turkey, our Armenian citizens, have no complaints. I have Armenian
citizens in my own party…..There is an (Armenian) diaspora here,
I am speaking openly now, they are after their own interests, and
pursuing these claims to see how they can benefit."

Prime Minister also used his address to call on Turkish citizens
living in the US to become US citizens, noting that this would help
improve relations between the two countries.