Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 26 2010

Turkey reaches out to Armenians after `deportation’ row

In a show of goodwill towards the Armenian people, the Turkish
government has decided to take two significant steps to improve
relations: allowing a religious service to be held at the Akhtamar
Church in the eastern province of Van and launching studies on
providing educational opportunities to the children of illegal
Armenian workers.

The government’s move came amid growing criticism in Turkey over Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s latest remarks on the possibility of
deporting illegal Armenian workers in the country if necessary. On
March 16, while on a visit to the UK, ErdoÄ?an said Turkey could send
100,000 Armenian workers who are working in the country without the
necessary permission back to Armenia. Facing fierce criticism, ErdoÄ?an
later complained that he had been misquoted in the media, which he
said misrepresented his remarks to mean that they were targeting
Turkey’s Armenian community.

In Van, the governor’s office announced on Thursday that Culture and
Tourism Minister ErtuÄ?rul Günay had approved an application submitted
by the Van Governor’s Office in December 2009 to permit a religious
sermon to be held once a year at the Akhtamar Church, which was
re-opened as museum in March 2007 following restoration that was
undertaken at the behest of the government. At the time, the Armenian
community pressed for the 1,100-year-old church on Lake Van’s Akhtamar
Island to be made available for religious services.

According to the decision signed by Günay, the church will be opened
for religious services only one day every year and this service will
take place in the second half of September, to be attended by a
limited number of visitors and at a time which will not complicate the
movement of visitors to the museum.

On Thursday in Ankara, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç told the NTV
news channel that the government has been attempting to create a
formula which will allow the children of illegal Armenian workers to
attend non-Muslim minority schools.

`The Education Ministry is continuing its studies on the requirements
for enrolment in minority schools,’ Arınç said. `Up until this date,
Turkey has always opened its arms to those who come to this country,’
he added.

According to a recent study, the `State of Armenian Irregular Migrants
in Turkey,’ the children of these workers, especially if they are born
in Turkey, face many problems, including being stateless since there
is no diplomatic representation for Armenia in Turkey and the children
are not registered as citizens of any country. The children are not
able to attend school because their parents are irregular workers and
they need to keep this fact hidden. There are schools in Turkey for
the Armenian minority but under Turkish law only Turkish citizens can
attend.

Education Minister Nimet �ubukçu, speaking to reporters in Ankara,
however, was cautious regarding the chances of providing opportunities
for the children of illegal workers to receive an education, saying
the government was considering whether to ease laws that specify only
those children who are Turkish nationals and belong to a non-Muslim
minority can attend minority schools.

�ubukçu said Arınç thus referred to possibilities for children of
foreigners who reside in Turkey legally to attend minority schools.
`It’s an issue which is still under consideration. The final decision
has not yet been made,’ she added.

26 March 2010, Friday
TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA

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