ARMENIAN IMMIGRANTS REPORTEDLY ARRESTED IN TURKEY
By Ruben Meloyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 15 2007
A large number of Armenian nationals have been arrested in Turkey
in recent days for violating the country’s immigration rules, an
Istanbul-based Armenian diplomat said on Monday.
The Irish Times daily reported last week that about 100 Armenians
illegally residing in Istanbul and other Turkish cities were rounded up
by police and are facing deportation to Armenia. The paper suggested
that the Turkish authorities ordered the crackdown in retaliation
for the anticipated adoption by the U.S. House of Representatives of
a resolution recognizing as genocide the 1915 massacres of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire.
"I have unofficial information confirming the fact of such arrests,"
Karen Mirzoyan, Armenia’s permanent representative to the Istanbul
headquarters of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization told
RFE/RL by phone. "I can’t give more precise information because such
issues are not officially part of my responsibilities."
Officials at the Turkish Foreign Ministry could not confirm or refute
the information on Monday.
Official Ankara reacted furiously to the genocide resolution’s approval
last Wednesday by a key congressional committee. Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan warned over the weekend its passage by the full House
of Representatives, expected next month, would seriously harm Turkey’s
ties with not only the United States but Armenia. He did not specify
what steps the Turkish government could take against Yerevan.
Turkey had already closed its border with Armenia in 1993 and
has since made its reopening conditional on a resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and an end to the decades-long Armenian
campaign for international recognition of the genocide.
Turkish officials have indicated that the closure of Turkish
airspace for civilian aircraft flying to and from Armenia is one of
the measures Ankara could take in response to the passage of the
genocide resolution. They have also warned that it could directly
affect at least 50,000 Armenian citizens which they say live and work
in Turkey. Many in Armenia dismiss the figure as grossly inflated.
"In recent months, Turkish law-enforcement bodies here have toughened
their treatment of illegal immigrants in general," said Ara Gocunian,
editor of Istanbul’s Armenian-language daily Zhamanak. "Armenians
are said to be among them. But I don’t know if all of those arrested
are Armenians."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
