"HOW MANY ARMENIAN MIGRANTS ARE THERE IN TURKEY?"
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
23/05/2008

Armenia-Turkey

On May 18 the Turkish published an article with such a title. The
article was dedicated to Parliament member Hakan Zoskun’s speech, which
was in its turn a response to ex-Ambassador Sukru Elekdag’s October
2007 statement about 70 thousand citizens of Armenia working in Turkey.

Internal Affairs Minister Besir Atalay answered the following to the
aforementioned question, "According to the visa regime between Armenia
and Turkey, Armenian citizens are usually granted 30-day tourist visa,
and their entry on the territory of Turkey is not a matter of special
attention. In 2007 53 thousand 108 citizens of Armenia entered Turkey
and 53 thousand 359 left its territory. In January-February 2008 6211
Armenian citizens arrived in Turkey and 6085 departed.

In 2007 8 Armenian citizens were deported from Turkey for illegal
stay in the country, and only one citizen in 2008."

The Minister also noted that in case of detaining illegal Armenian
migrants in Turkey the law enforcement structures report it to the
Employment and Social Issues Ministry, which organizes the deportation.