TURKISH ANALYST: ERDOGAN SPOKE OF TURKISH HOSPITALITY, BUT ARMENIA AND THE WORLD FAILED TO UNDERSTAND HIM

ArmInfo
2010-03-25 15:17:00

ArmInfo. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan spoke of Turkish hospitality,
but Armenia and the world failed to understand him for some reason,
said Director of Istanbul-based Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Mensur Akgun during the Armenia-Turkey policy discussions held in
Yerevan, Thursday.

In his interview with CNN Turk, the Turkish prime minister meant
the Turkish hospitality when speaking of 100 thsd Armenian citizens
illegally living in Turkey, however, Armenia and the world has made
quite opposite conclusions from this statement by turning it upside
down, Akgun said.

At the same time, Akgun pointed out the positive trends in the Armenian
and Turkish society in terms of willingness to bilateral dialogue. A
lot has changed in both Turkey and Armenia, and the Protocols provide
us excellent motivation for establishment of relations. "We should do
our best for our societies to understand each other better",- he said.

Earlier Erdogan said: "Look, there are 170,000 Armenians in my country
– – 70,000 of them are my citizens, but we are [tolerating] 100,000
of them [illegally] in our country. So, what will we do tomorrow? If
it is necessary, I will tell them, Come on, back to your country.’ I
will do it. Why? They are not my citizens. I am not obliged to keep
them in my country."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress