Anna Turay: Erdogan’s statement awakened conscience of Armenian
community in Turkey

27.03.2010 13:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
statement on possible exile of illegal Armenian migrant from Turkey
upset the Armenian community of Istanbul, said Anna Turay, one of the
founders of Istanbul-based Agos bilingual newspaper.

`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. I
mean these are [defenders of the Armenian claims of genocide]. Their
attitude is negatively affecting our sincere attitude, and they are
not aware of it,’ Erdogan said in an interview with the BBC.

`This statement awakened conscience. We suddenly came to realize that
Armenian migrants live in poor conditions and their children have no
possibility to get education,’ she told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
`As a reaction to the Prime Minister’s statement Turkish journalists
turned their eyes on Armenian migrants.’

`Armenians in Istanbul are not aware of the problems of those newly
arrived. Unfortunately, the Armenian community is not consolidated.
Besides, locals and newcomers fail to establish contacts due to
psychological differences,’ she said.