ARMENIANS IN TURKEY ‘GUESTS NOT ILLEGALS’

news.az, Azerbaijan
March 25 2010

Kaan Soyak, co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development
Council, outlines the current state of rapprochement between the
two countries.

On discussions about Armenian citizens working illegally in Turkey,
Kaan Soyak, said that it would be fairer and more constructive to
use the term ‘guest Armenians’, rather than ‘illegal Armenians’. In a
statement to an Anatolia news agency correspondent, Soyak said, ‘The
addresses of the Armenian citizens that have come to our country are
known. They are not hiding. They are here working as guests and trying
to contribute to their families in Armenia.’ Soyak said, ‘They are our
guests. Though we realized that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan meant in his remarks in London that Turkey shows good will and
hospitality to the Armenian guest workers in Turkey, his speech was
unfortunately not understood in this way at the international level.

Our phones have been ringing constantly since this statement was made.

We are trying to clear up this misunderstanding.’

‘The approval of the genocide resolutions by the US House Foreign
Affairs Committee and the Swedish parliament has aggravated the
normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, which is struggling
on thanks to the devotion and efforts of diplomats and politicians of
both countries,’ Soyak said. ‘It is no secret that for both American
and European politicians the concerns of their electorate take
precedence over Turkey. Turkey must solve its own problems without
giving others scope to comment about it.’

The co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council
said that it was essential that politicians in both countries were
encouraged to make diplomatic statements with support from officials so
that Turkish-Armenian relations might continue their fragile progress.

Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkish-Armenian rapprochement

Soyak commented that March and April were important times for genocide
resolutions and particularly for Turkish-American relations. ‘Why does
Turkey face these genocide resolutions?,’ Soyak asked. ‘Because Turkey
has not been able to get its parliament to approve the protocols,’
he said. ‘The government is confronted with the great block of
opposition parties on this matter. The genocide resolution would not
have been brought before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and
Turkey would not have worried about what American President Barack
Obama would say on 24 April if the protocols had been approved by
the Assembly.’ Soyak said that another reason that Turkey had not
had the protocols approved in the Grand National Assembly was that
it supported Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh.

‘Those who work closely in the region are aware that the Caucasus is
Russia’s backyard and Russia is not ready to make complete peace in
the region. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are waiting for a Russian
decision to make peace in the Caucasus. This waiting period has
nothing to do with Turkey. It is not certain when it will be decided.

The Turkish opposition parties do not know this fact and the Turkish
people are misguided.’

Lobbying in the USA

Commenting on the work done in the USA, Soyak said that Turkey,
through its embassy, was putting every effort into contact with the
US Administration and the House of Representatives. Soyak said that
Azerbaijan should not leave Turkey alone during this highly important
period. ‘Azerbaijan should take action,’ Soyak said. ‘Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev should call Barack Obama to ask him to block
the resolution, members of the Azerbaijani parliament should lobby
in DC together with Turkish diplomats and urge the representatives of
American oil companies in Azerbaijan to lobby against the resolution.’