TURKEY WARNS IT MIGHT EXPEL 100,000 ILLEGAL ARMENIAN IMMIGRANTS OVER GENOCIDE VOTE
Linda Young – AHN News Editor
All Headline News
March 18 2010
Ankara, Turkey (AHN) – Turkey has threatened to expel 100,000
non-citizen Armenians from its country in response to the United States
and Sweden both saying that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
during World War I should be described as genocide.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s warning comes in the
wake of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Sweden’s
parliament earlier this month passing resolutions saying the 1915
killings should be called genocide. Turkey recalled it ambassadors
to the U.S. and Sweden in response and now says that if more foreign
countries officially label the killings as genocide that it will
consider expelling the 100,000 Armenians who are not citizens.
Erdogan pointed out there are 170,000 Armenians living in Turkey,
but only 70,00 are citizens. Many of the rest came to Turkey in 1988
after a devastating earthquake in Armenia and have been allowed to
stay, but they have no legal right to remain permanently.
Turkey’s stance is causing problems.
Armenian officials have said that it does not improve relations between
the two nations. In addition, Turkey is trying for membership in
the European Union and recalling its ambassador to Sweden has caused
tensions between those two countries.
Analysts say that there might be more tensions between Turkey and the
U.S. as well if the non-binding vote is ratified. There is speculation
that Turkey might take further action by refusing to allow the U.S. to
use a military base in the southeast part of Turkey, which the U.S.
uses to provide support to its troops traveling to and from Iraq.