PREMIER SAYS ANKARA MAY RE-ASSES STATUS OF ILLEGAL ARMENIANS IN TURKEY

Anadolu Agency
March 16 2010
Turkey

London, 16 March: Turkey’s prime minister said on Tuesday [16 March]
that Armenia should be saved from diaspora’s control.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his British
counterpart Gordon Brown in London. Following the gathering, the
two officials held a joint press conference and replied to questions
of reporters.

Upon a question on his recent remarks in an interview regarding the
status of illegal Armenian migrants in Turkey, Erdogan said nearly
170,000 Armenians lived in Turkey currently.

"Seventy thousand of these people are our citizens and others are
living in Turkey illegally," Erdogan said.

"We will not decide on such matter immediately. These people have been
living in our country for more than 10 years. However, if developments
continue like this, we will definitely make an assessment and take
the necessary steps," he said.

Replying to another question, Erdogan said Armenia should be rescued
from the diaspora’s control.

"At this point, the Minsk Group has an important duty. It should
fulfil such task. Once it is fulfilled, all the problems will naturally
vanish and there will not be any problems between Turkey and Armenia,
or between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he said.