ERDOGAN: ARMENIAN MIGRANTS COULD BE DEPORTED
Southeast European Times
March 17 2010
ANKARA, Turkey — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday
threatened that some 100,000 illegal immigrants from Armenia might
be extradited from his country. "There are around 170,000 Armenians
living in our country. Of them, 70,000 are Turkish citizens and the
rest are illegal immigrants who have been on Turkish territory for
over 10 years. If the situation continues to develop like this, we
will have to review our attitude towards them," Erdogan said in an
interview with the Turkish service of BBC. The statement came after
a US committee and Sweden recently approved resolutions to brand the
1915 killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
On Tuesday, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt issued a
statement expressing his regret over the parliament’s decision to
approve the document. "I informed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
on Saturday that I regret the decision of the Riksdag [parliament],
as it paves the way for a politicisation of historical events. I also
expressed my concern that this could be used by forces in Turkey that
are trying to put a stop to the process of reconciliation with Armenia
and the process of reform in Turkey," Reinfeldt said. Swedish Foreign
Minister Carl Bildt has also criticised the parliament’s move.