TURKISH TOP OFFICIAL: ARMENIA MUST DRAW CONCLUSIONS FROM TURKISH PM’S STATEMENTS
Trend
March 17 2010
Azerbaijan
Armenia should draw conclusion from Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s statement regarding the eviction of 100,000 Armenians
living illegally in the country, Erdogan’s Adviser on Eurasia Geybulla
Ramazanoglu thinks.
"Armenia and the Armenian lobby should be make conclusions from
Erdogan’s statements," he told Trend News over the telephone from
Ankara.
Erdogan warned of a possible expulsion of 100,000 Armenians living
illegally in Turkey, in an interview for the BBC.
Erdogan said that nearly 170,000 Armenians live in Turkey now.
"About 70,000 of these people are our citizens and the rest are living
in Turkey illegally," he told the BBC. "Tomorrow, if necessary,
I will say that 100,000 of them have to leave our country. I’ll do
this because they are not our citizens and I am not obliged to keep
them in our country."
Erdogan said Armenia should be rescued from the diaspora’s control.
Erdogan wants to show the world and the Armenian lobby that Turkey
has great capacity to deal with the Armenians.
"It is no secret that Armenia continues its pressure on Ankara over the
so-called ‘genocide’ and many other means. Armenia should understand
that Turkey may also resort to different levers of pressure,"
Ramazanoglu said.
However, the Armenian lobby is unlikely to make concession in
connection with Erdogan’s statement.
"The welfare of Armenians has never been relevant for the Armenian
lobby and the lobby has never worked in the interests of Armenia,"
he added.
Ramazanoglu said that the continuous negotiations are "at an impasse"
and until Armenia backs down from its current position, there won’t
be any shift.