ERDOGAN BLAMED FOR ‘COOPERATING WITH ARMENIANS TO TURKEY’S DETRIMENT’

Tert
Nov 9 2009
Armenia

At a general meeting of Turkey’s governing Justice and Development
(AKP) party held yesterday in Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said that there are 70,000 citizens from the Republic
of Armenia in Turkey and an additional 100,000 Turkish citizens of
Armenian ancestry.

"This is the reality of the relations between Armenia and Turkey,"
he said.

Erdogan’s statement was made as if in response to the statement
Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli made yesterday.

Bahceli, referring to the establishment process of Armenia-Turkey and
Turkey-Greece relations initiated recently during a parliamentary
session, had stated that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "is
cooperating with Armenians and Greeks, to Turkey’s detriment."