TURKEY GRANTS 5-YEAR RESIDENCE PERMIT TO ARMENIAN FAMILY

APA
April 27 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Turkey has granted a five-year residence permit to Armenian
citizen Arthur Manukyan, who suffers from a permanent disease, and his
family, officials said on Monday, APA reports quoting turkishny.com
web-page. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Canan
Aritman, during a parliamentary gathering on April 24, approached
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and asked him to help grant a
residence permit to Manukyan, 21, as he has to be treated in Turkey
for the deadly moyamoya disease, an inherited disease in which certain
arteries in the brain are constricted.

Manukyan and his mother Hasmik Manukyan went to the Istanbul Police
Department on Monday to receive their residence permit. Here, they
met with Istanbul Police Chief Huseyin Capkin who said the Manukyan
family was asked also if they wanted to become Turkish citizens.

"They wanted to become citizens," Capkin said. "We have received
their application papers. We will be closely interested in them."

Arthur’s mother Hasmik Manukyan said they were illegally residing in
Turkey until today.

"We did not have residence permit. But Arthur’s treatment had to
go on. Thank God we have not been caught so far. I’d like to thank
everyone, from Ms. Aritman to Mr. Prime Minister for their efforts,"
Hasmik Manukyan said.

Thousands of Armenians are living illegally in Turkey, most of them
in Istanbul. The exact number is unknown but they are usually known
as undocumented Armenians who are working illegally in Turkey.