ARMENIAN FM VOICES DISCONTENT WITH TURKISH PM’S STATEMENT ON DEPORTATION OF ILLEGAL ARMENIAN MIGRANTS

Today
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March 18 2010
Azerbaijan

Statements by the Turkish Prime Minister about deportation
of all Armenians from Turkey do not contribute to promoting the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
said in a briefing with Slovakian Foreign Minister Miroslav LajÄ~Mák.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview with BBC
threatened to deport all Armenians illegally residing in Turkey.

According to him, today Turkey is home to around 170,000 Armenians,
of whom only 70 thousand are Turkish citizens.

This statement has provoked serious discussions inside Turkey itself,
and many do not understand how such a statement could be made, the
Armenian FM noted.

"We need to move forward and implement those agreements and
understandings reached between the two countries," Nalbandian added.