HERITAGE PARTY PREPARES RESPONSE TO TURKISH PREMIER
news.am
March 19 2010
Armenia
The Heritage Party (Armenia) is preparing its response to Turkish
Premier Recep Erdogan. The party’s statement will be sent out to all
the members of the CE Parliamentary Assembly.
"We must ask the PACE members whether an official of a CE member-state
can resort to threats and blackmail. We should not forget that
Istanbul, that is Constantinople, is the homeland of Armenians, Greeks,
Assyrians and, of course, Turks," Zaruhi Bostanjyan, a Heritage Party
member, stated at a news briefing.
Yeghine Bisharyan, Head of the Country of Law faction, is surprised
at the fact that a state seeking full membership of the European
family threatens to deport Armenians. Statements like that only
impede the Armenian-Turkish normalization process and cause damage
to Turkey’s international reputation. "Erdogan’s statements show we
should implement a more cautious policy so as not to cause any harm
to the Armenians abroad," Bisharyan said.
Hrair Karapetyan, Chairman of the Committee on Defense, National
Security and Internal Affairs, RA Parliament, said that Erdogan’s
statement proves Turkey has not changed its style. "Authorities change,
the style remains the same," he said. Karapetyan stressed that Turkey
poses a threat to Armenians now as well.
"It was statements like that that provoked the Armenian Genocide
in Ottoman Turkey early in the 20th century. The recognition of the
Armenian Genocide has become even more topical amid this, and we must
exert greater efforts," Karapetyan said. He stated that the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) (ARFD) will take an active
part in the commemoration of the 95th and 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide.
The Turkish Premier threatened recently that the illegal Armenian
immigrants, 100,000 people, will be deported from Turkey.