Author: Mamian George

CHURCH ‘OUTPOST’?
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan

-lrahos17237.html
11:41:01 – 22/03/2010

One of the most noteworthy events taken place in Armenia in the
recent period is perhaps the visit of the Russian Patriarch Kirill
to Armenia. A thorough analysis of his visit is a job requiring much
time so we will focus on a few statements only.

Russia’s history shows that the religious power has always supported
the Russian political government and has always been one of the
fulfillers of its political directions. Being the cultural and
religious inheritor of the Constantinople Church, the Russian Orthodox
Church headed by its new Patriarch, continues emperor-worshiping
aspirations of the church becoming the inheritor of Constantinople
politically too.

On the other hand, it is well known to all that under strong political
power, the church has always been under someone’s influence or in some
political vector, and in case of contradicting it, it has been strictly
punished- persecutions and physical vendetta. We have to note that
under current situation of the Russian political power, only through
cooperation, it was possible to become Russian Patriarch. We have to
add also Kirill Patriarch’s appeals and orders directed to the power
to resist local and global challenges, after which we will find out
that the appeals and the persuasions made in Armenia by the Patriarch
Kirill are to be perceived in the political context. In particular,
we do not have to overlook his statements about the Armenian and
Turkish relations, and invitation of Garegin II to Baku to take part
in the CIS inter-religious conference.

At the State University, Russian Patriarch Kirill noted that anyone,
before holding a speech, is to think about their audience, its
mental abilities, and to build their speech in accordance with this
circumstance. Right from this point, the speeches of the Patriarch
in St. Grigor Lusavorich Church and in the university are to be viewed.

The point is especially about the fact that the Patriarch called the
Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Orthodox Church. If the Patriarch
used the expression "Armenian Orthodox Church" only once in the
university (the same expression used one of the students when asking
him a question) so in the church, the Patriarch used this phrase more
than once.

The Armenian Church is understandable to belong to the family of
Eastern Orthodox Churches, and it is usually called Orthodox by
foreigners. On the other hand, the Armenian Church is Orthodox from
the point of its belief too. In other words, the terms Apostolic,
Orthodox, Catholic can be applied to nearly all the churches of the
world, but they are used only in professional literature.

Consequently, Patriarch Kirill could not but realize this reality
as well as the fact that his calling the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Armenian Orthodox Church could create grounds for misunderstanding
within Armenian believers.

>>From this point, I am sure that his expressions were result of
purposely use: the "outpost" logic of state and public circles cannot
but apply churches too. By the way, we have to remember about the
fusion of the Russian state system and the Orthodox Church and its
projection in the Armenian reality, the best proof of which is the
scandalous events regarding the open-air hall of Cinema Moscow.

In fact, we have to presume from all this that the Russian
emperor-worshiping aspirations apply not only to the Armenian economy,
political field, energy and other resources, but also the Armenian
church, because according to patriarch Kirill himself, the Armenian and
Russian Churches are in the same axiological field. Though, I am almost
sure that this axiological identity will not be commented in favor
of the Armenian church, which I think, is full of serious dangers not
only for the Armenian Church but first of all for the Armenian society.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta website, Russia
March 17 2010

Russian report examines CIS countries’ military expenditure

Article by Vladimir Mukhin under rubric "CIS": "Commonwealth of
Militarized States: The Crisis Did Not Limit the Growth of Military
Expenditures in the Post-Soviet Space"

Presidents of Commonwealth countries are not economizing on their
armies; Reuters photo

The post-Soviet space continues to be a zone of potential conflicts.
An analysis of military budgets of Commonwealth countries and Georgia
indicates they are especially likely in the South Caucasus and Central
Asia. By the way, even CIS countries distant from possible hotspots
are not economizing on their armies. The impression is that
preparations are underway for a large-scale war.

Despite an average 7% decrease in cumulative gross national product
(VVP [GDP]) of post-Soviet countries, their military expenditures
increased 5% in a dollar equivalent compared with 2009, and almost 15%
compared with 2008 (see table). Among the leaders in the arms race
were Georgia (4.56% of GDP), Armenia (4.07%), Azerbaijan (3.95%), and
Uzbekistan and Ukraine (3.5% each). The fact stands out that among the
leaders in the militaristic race, a growth of economic indicators was
observed in 2009 only in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. A decline in GDP
was seen in the other states, and the decline in Armenia was the
largest in the CIS at almost 15%.

We will note that data cited in the table do not take into account
military assistance from abroad to a number of the countries as well
as expenditures for support of allies. For example, the Nagornyy
Karabakh Self-Defense Force supplements Armenia’s military potential.
As a result, according to expert assessments, cumulative expenditures
of Armenia and the unrecognized republic are at least $600 million.
And this is understandable, since the peacekeeping process to settle
the Karabakh conflict is not moving off dead center, and the
leadership of Azerbaijan, which believes that Armenia holds 20% of its
territory, made statements more than once lately about the possibility
of resolving the conflict by military means.

Petrodollars and the establishment of military industry of Azerbaijan
(a corresponding ministry has been established there with a
corresponding budget, which is not included in national defense
expenditures), as well as a significant mobilization reserve created
in recent years provided this country’s leadership with an opportunity
to build up its military potential even higher, estimated at $3-4
billion (9-10% of GDP), in case combat operations are initiated. It
seems it is not by chance that the OBSYe [OSCE] is so concerned with
this problem. Recently Goran Lennmarker, OSCE special representative
for the Karabakh conflict, stated that "Azerbaijan must reduce the
military budget, which can be part of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
settlement process." Lennmarker believes that "the economies of
Armenia and Azerbaijan are suffering and people are suffering" from
the dragging-out of this conflict.

Georgia’s military expenses are a special subject. Compared with 2008,
this country’s GDP declined by more than $1 billion in 2009. By the
way, this does not keep Mikhail Saakashvili’s regime from spending in
relative terms the largest share of its budget on defense in the
post-Soviet space, $519 million (4.56% of GDP). To this figure must be
added US and NATO military humanitarian aid. US Deputy Secretary of
State James Steinberg declared in Tbilisi in February of this year
that by this time the United States had fulfilled its promise of
assistance to Georgia in the amount of $1 billion since the August
2008 war. Pure military expenditures were almost $50 million of this
amount. Funds also are coming to Georgia along the NATO line on a
similar scale. Thus, there was a North Atlantic Alliance Council
session in Brussels last week within the framework of the Georgia-NATO
Commission at which there was a discussion of Tbilisi’s annual
national program for cooperation with the bloc for 2010. According to
a statement by Georgian Vice Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze, the
program envisages continuation of reforms not only in strengthening
democracy, but also in the spheres of defense, economy, security, and
so on.

Evidently it was not by chance that the Russian military-political
leadership recently concluded that there was the possibility of
Georgia initiating a new military conflict. True, it should be noted
that Russia too is wasting no time. It is rather actively building up
the military infrastructure in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were
annexed from Georgia. And cumulative military-economic assistance to
these states from Moscow exceeds Georgia’s military budget. Last year
in Sukhumi, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that
Moscow will spend R15-16 billion in 2010 for facilities construction
of military bases in Abkhazia and for development of the border
infrastructure. According to the prime minister’s estimates, it will
take around another R4 billion to implement infrastructure projects
connected with development of transportation and facilities
construction of border crossings.

We will note that no less an amount also will be spent on South
Ossetia, with which the RF government recently approved a military
agreement.

In Central Asia, Uzbekistan continues to stand out in the scale of
military expenditures. It is apparent from the table that its military
expenditures in 2010 will exceed similar expenditures of neighboring
Kazakhstan. Although Kazakhstan’s GDP is almost double that of
Uzbekistan, Astana will spend less than 1% of GDP on defense in 2010,
while this indicator in Uzbekistan is 3.5%. Why Uzbekistan continues
militarizing so actively is fully understandable. First of all, there
is a complex interethnic environment in the country, and the country’s
overpopulation intensifies social dissatisfaction despite all its
economic successes. The country’s leadership is parrying these threats
by strengthening the repressive apparatus. Secondly, Tashkent has
permanent conflict relations with its neighbors, especially Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan. Plus the Islam Karimov regime is helping NATO troops
in the northern provinces of Afghanistan populated primarily by
Uzbeks. Karimov is privately setting the goal of totally subordinating
neighboring Afghan provinces to himself, and this requires having
powerful military resources.

In Central Asia Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the poorest countries in
the post-Soviet space, continue small defense expenditures. Their
military budgets largely are supplemented by military assistance from
Russia, China, and certain NATO countries operating in the region. The
military expenditures of neutral Turkmenistan and Moldova remained at
almost the same level in 2010, although the arrival of a so-called
"democratic coalition" to power in Chisinau may change much in the
Moldovan leadership’s plans. Moldovan Defense Minister Vitalie
Marinuta stated after his appointment to this post last year that
demilitarization of the country, which ex-President Vladimir Voronin
proposed as one of the most important steps for confidence-building on
the Dniester, "is not urgent either at the present or in the future."
Summing up results of his contacts with the United States, the head of
the military department stated that the Pentagon will increase the
funding of educational programs for the Moldovan military. In
particular, the United States is prepared to broaden its involvement
in the "International Military Cooperation" program, the general
budget of which is $9.5 million. And in the future this budget will
almost double. "The United States is interested in moving cooperation
with Moldova to a higher level in the defense and security sphere,"
Minister Marinuta says. In this connection there is persistent talk
among the opposition to the effect that in the future, when the
authority of the "democratic coalition" will be strengthened, the
question will be raised about Chisinau’s rejection of neutrality and
Moldova’s possible entry into the North Atlantic Alliance.

Ukraine plans to increase its military expenditures considerably to
$5.2 billion, although it is not a fact that this will manage to be
done. In connection with pre-election musical chairs, the country’s
budget for 2010 just has not been adopted and funding of the country’s
Armed Forces continues to lag considerably behind the real needs of
the Ukrainian Army and Navy.

Despite the crisis, funding of the Army in Belarus is at the previous
level of over $900 million, which is 1.5% of GDP. True, several years
ago the country’s leadership promised to take military expenditures
for 2010 to the level of 2% of GDP. The budget of the Union State of
Russia and Belarus is increasing Minsk’s military expenditures
somewhat. In 2010 around $63 million, which will be 39% of the entire
Union budget, will be spent for military purposes, joint defense, and
military-technical cooperation of the Union State.

If one figures in a ruble equivalent, military expenditures also have
increased in Russia by 3.4% in absolute figures. The decline in GDP
and the increase in the dollar to ruble exchange rate, however, led to
where RF military expenditures fell by almost $1.5 billion in 2010
compared with 2009.

Military expenditures of CIS states and Georgia 2008-2010

Country_Defense expenditures in past two years and planned this year
(in $millions)_Percent of GDP (average value in total)_Growth
(decline) in percent of GDP, 2009 compared with 2008 (average value in
total)

2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010

1. Armenia 382.3 495.3 347 3.7 3.6 4.07 -14.4

2. Azerbaijan 1300 1446 1585 3.6 2.76 3.95 +9.3

3. Georgia 900 574 519 5.95 4.4 4.56 -4

4. Moldova 12.6 30 29 0.3 0.39 0.56 -7.6

5. Kazakhstan 1385 1490 1152 1.1 1 0.95 +1.1

6. Kyrgyzstan 23.7 22 96 0.5 0.6 1.7 +2.3

7. Tajikistan 63 88.2 84 1.7 1.46 1.5 +3.4

8. Turkmenistan 213 250 261 0.9 1.21 1.5 +15.3

9. Uzbekistan 1080 1238 1422 4 3.4 3.5 +8.1

10. Ukraine 1960 1204 5200 1.1 0.85 3.53 -15

11. Belarus 681 910 926 1 1.3 1.5 +0.2

12. Russia 38861 43100 41800 2.7 2.67 2.9 -7.9

Total 46581.8 50782.9 53335 2.22 1.96 2.51 -0.85

Table compiled based on an analysis of unclassified data on the
economies of CIS countries and Georgia and of their 2009 budgets. The
average exchange rate of the dollar to the national currencies has
been used as was specified in the budget laws of CIS countries for
2009. The statistics for Turkmenistan are calculated based on data of
the expenditure side of this republic’s budget for 2009-2010.

[translated from Russian]

Agence France Presse
March 18 2010

Turkish PM faces the heat over Armenian deportation threat

Ankara, March 18 2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under fire Thursday
for his threat to deport thousands of illegal Armenian workers, with
critics saying it damages the country’s prestige and overshadows a
limping peace process with Armenia.

In comments late Tuesday, Erdogan said such action could be taken if
foreign parliaments continue to pass votes branding the massacres of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Resolutions voted recently in the United States and Sweden to that
affect "adversely affect our sincere attitude" towards illegal
Armenians, Erdogan told the BBC Turkish service.

"There are 170,000 Armenians in my country. Of these, 70,000 are
citizens, but we are tolerating the remaining 100,000… If necessary,
I may have to tell them to go back to their country… I am not
obliged to keep them here," he charged.

Erdogan’s outburst is an attempt to "blackmail" foreign countries into
rejecting Armenian allegations of a genocide, using illegal Armenians
in Turkey as pawns, commentator Can Dundar wrote in the Milliyet
daily.

"Treating innocent Armenian workers as bargaining chips as if they
were hostages is grave enough to add a new example to the
centuries-old accusations against Turkey," he added.

Armenians charge that up to 1.5 million of their kin perished in a
systematic extermination campaign during 1915-1918 as the Ottoman
Empire fell apart.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label, arguing that up to
500,000 Armenians were killed in civil strife and forcible
deportations for rising up against Ottoman rule and siding with
invading Russian forces.

"These kinds of political statements do not help to improve relations
between our two states…. When the Turkish prime minister allows
himself to make such statements it immediately for us brings up
memories of the events of 1915," Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sarkisian said Wednesday.

In a bid to overcome decades of enmity, Turkey and Armenia in October
signed a historic deal to establish diplomatic ties and open their
shared border.

But the process has already hit the rocks, with both countries
accusing each other of trying to rewrite the accord and withholding
their parliaments from ratifying the deal.

Erdogan’s threat — which comes in stark contrast to Ankara’s vow to
pursue reconciliation efforts with Armenia — is likely to further
strain the process, Hadi Uluengin wrote in the Hurriyet daily.

"Neither Armenia nor its influential diaspora will leave such a
Turkish threat unaswered… Erdogan’s threat has harmed our diplomatic
prestige," he said.

To limit the fallout, Suat Kiniklioglu, the foreign affairs spokesman
for the ruling party, played down Erdoganâ?¬?¢s words, saying the prime
minister was merely underlining the tolerance shown to illegal
Armenian workers.

Erdogan was "not talking about something that would happen today or
tomorrow," he said in a written statement Wednesday.

Most analysts do not believe Turkey will ever follow through with the
threat as it would be too costly.

"It would be absolutely unthinkable to see dozens, hundreds or
thousands of Armenians gathered by police and expelled back to
Armenia. That would be a deadly blow to the image of Turkey abroad,"
said Fabio Salomoni, an Italian sociologist from Istanbul’s Koc
University who has researched Armenian immigrants in Turkey.

Turkish authorities have long been aware of the presence of the
illegal Armenians, most of them women working as nannies or cleaning
ladies and mainly in Istanbul.

Their exact numbers are unknown, but analysts say Turkish authorities
have a tendency to inflate the figures — starting with 40,000 and
going up to 100,000 — to put pressure on Armenia.

Salomoni put their numbers at between 10,000 to 20,000 while Alin
Ozinian, the author of recent research on the subject for the
Armenia-based Eurasia Partnership Foundation, says there are between
13,000 and 15,000 illegal Armenians in Turkey.

VAHAN HOVHANNESYAN: ARTIFICIAL MAINTENANCE OF AMD EXCHANGE RATE HARMS LOCAL MANUFACTURERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.03.2010 19:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Artificial maintenance of AMD to USD exchange
rate gave no positive results. On the opposite, by artificially
maintaining the exchange rate, Armenian government squandered its
foreign currency reserves. Now that they’re wasted, USD started going
up, ARFD parliamentary faction leader Vahan Hovhannesyan stated at
parliamentary briefing.

Artificial maintenance of exchange rate also harmed local
manufacturers, who purchased raw material with high costing drams,
selling the ready product abroad at low costing dollars, Vahan
Hovhannesyan concluded.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH LEVON ARONYAN

Aysor
March 19 2010
Armenia

What is going on with Levon Aronyan. On the 5th round of the "Amber"
chess tournament Levon Aronyan performed a very bad game losing the
"blind" and fast chess to Svidler. The latter was not in the number
of the leaders at all. He also had 3.5 points, just as Aronyan, which
is obviously not a good result. Our chess player has received 3.5 from
the possible 10 and is on the 10th position of the tournament list.

During the last period the Armenian Grand Master is not showing
the required results for the world champion. This fact should worry
the experts and officials of the chess game and make them come to
serious conclusions.

ERDOGAN: ARMENIA SHOULD BE SAVED FROM THE DIASPORA’S CONTROL

Journal of Turkish Daily
March 16 2010

LONDON (A.A) – Turkey’s prime minister said on Tuesday that Armenia
should be saved from the diaspora’s control.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his British
counterpart Gordon Brown in London. Following the gathering, the
two officials held a joint press conference and replied to questions
of reporters.

Upon a question on his recent remarks in an interview regarding the
status of illegal Armenian migrants in Turkey, Erdogan said nearly
170,000 Armenians lived in Turkey currently.

"70,000 of these people are our citizens and others are living in
Turkey illegally," Erdogan said.

"We will not decide on such matter immediately. These people have been
living in our country for more than 10 years. However, if developments
continue like this, we will definitely make an assessment and take
the necessary steps," he said.

Replying to another question, Erdogan said Armenia should be rescued
from the diaspora’s control.

"At this point, the Minsk Group has an important duty. It should
fulfill such task. Once it is fulfilled, all the problems will
naturally vanish and there will not be any problems between Turkey
and Armenia, or between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he said.

STEPAN SAFARYAN: RETURN OF ROBERT KOCHARYAN IS UNREAL

ArmInfo
2010-03-17 11:19:00

ArmInfo. "Splitting of the ruling coalition is improbable", – Head
of the Heritage opposition party faction Stepan Safaryan said in
an interview with ArmInfo. However, as the parliamentarian said,
the internal political situation is quite serious, as activation of
some political forces inside the coalition essentially contributes
to implementation of the project of return of ex-President Robert
Kocharyan to power.

"Disagreements of Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik Tsarukyan with
the team of Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan are not casual", Safaryan
emphasized and added that R. Kocharyan has been wishing to become
the country’s prime minister long since, and he tries to carry out
his project against the background of the Karabakh conflict settlement.

His last visits to Iran and France testify what has been said. "Robert
Kocharyan solves his problems through Russia, exerting pressure on
the incumbent president. However, return of Robert Kocharyan is
unreal irrespective of whether the coalition splits or not", the
oppositionist said.

ARSEN GHAZARYAN: THE CRISIS IS OVER, A LONGER STAGE OF OVERCOMING ITS CONSEQUENCES HAS STARTED
Nelly Danielyan

"Radiolur"
17.03.2010 17:08

The economic crisis is over, but a longer and more difficult stage
of overcoming the consequences of the crisis has started, Chairman of
the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia Arsen Ghazaryan
told a press conference today. He said several years would be necessary
to fully overcome the consequences of the one-year crisis.

Last year Armenian businessmen were looking for ways to overcome
the crisis, while today they are seeking for ways to overcome its
consequences, Arsen Ghazaryan said.

However, according to the Chairman of the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen, the crisis and its consequences are not the only reason
hindering the development of business in Armenia, Corruption greatly
affects the activity of the small and medium-sized businesses, he said.

EGEMEN BAGIS: TURKEY WANTS GOOD NEIGHBOURLY RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2010 16:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Minister for European Affairs Egemen Bagis
commented on the decision of US Congressional committee to pass a
resolution recognizing the death of more than a million Armenians
in 1915-16 as Genocide and similar resolution passed by Sweden’s
parliament.

"With this decision, Sweden has become slave to a thesis that,
unfortunately, is based on falsehoods. The voting in the US was a
success for Turkey. The Congressman from California, who got support
from the Armenian lobby, made a fool out of himself. He tried to
scratch the back of every Representative in the corridors of Congress
in order to get their vote. But then he only won by a single vote.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later declared that the resolution
will not be passed by the entire House of Representatives. As you
know, the French parliament passed a similar law in 2006. Afterwards
there was a ban on French airforce flights over Turkey. We are very
sensitive about this issue," he told Der Spiegel.

Asked about Turkey’s actions in case the US recognizes the Genocide
officially, Bagis said, "I will leave that up to your readers’
imagination. But allow me to remind you of one thing: Seventy
percent of the logistical support for the Iraq deployment comes
through Incirlik."

"It is up to the historians, not politicians, to judge what happened
in the past. Politicians look into the future. We have offered to
create a joint commission of historians together with the Republic
of Armenia – so far without success. Besides, the Ottoman Empire was
an ally of the German Reich. Nothing that happened back then happened
without consultations with the Germans," he added.

Asked if Turkey is worried that Armenians will demand reparations, Mr.

Bagis replied: "You know, there are an estimated 100,000 illegal
Armenian immigrants in our country, who work here providing care for
the elderly and children. For me, this shows that there is no hate
between our people. On the contrary: We are attempting to achieve
rapprochement, there is a peace process between our countries. We have
attempted to bridge our differences; we want to open all archives. But
when you see that the other side is blocking all your attempts, it
makes you sceptical. My government focuses on solving problems. We
want good neighbourly relations, also with Armenia."

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TALK HAS TURKEY THREATENING TO EXPEL ARMENIANS
By Scott Peterson

Christian Science Monitor
/2010/0317/Armenian-genocide-talk-has-Turkey-threa tening-to-expel-Armenians
March 17 2010

After politicians in the US and Sweden recently labeled the deaths
of up to 1.5 million in 1915 an Armenian genocide, Turkey’s Prime
Minister Erdogan responded by threatening to expel about 100,000
Armenians living in Turkey.

Raising the stakes in Turkey’s rejection of the genocide label by US
and Swedish lawmakers for the mass deaths of Armenians a century ago,
Turkey says it might send home up to 100,000 Armenians currently
living in Turkey without citizenship.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, angry over the decision earlier
this month by a US congressional committee and by the Swedish
parliament to call the 1915 deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians a
"genocide," has said the issue could disrupt a nascent Turkey-Armenia
reconciliation process started last year.

Mr. Erdogan is now unlikely to attend an energy summit hosted by
Barack Obama in April, Hurriyet newspaper reported. Erdogan already
pulled out of a top-level meeting in Sweden, and Turkey withdrew
ambassadors from both Washington and Stockholm after the two votes.

The issue of deaths during the expulsion of Christian Armenians by
forces of the crumbling Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I
are sensitive in Turkey, which argues that killing took place on
both sides.

More broadly, NATO member and European Union candidate Turkey does
not want to be lumped with Nazi Germany, Cambodia, or Rwanda as
perpetrators of genocide in the 20th century.

"There are currently 170,000 Armenians living in our country,"
Erdogan told the BBC Turkish service in London on Tuesday, according
to Reuters. "Only 70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are
tolerating the remaining 100,000. If necessary, I may have to tell
these 100,000 to go back to their country because they are not my
citizens. I don’t have to keep them in my country."

Most of those Armenians live in Istanbul, where they have lived
since a 1988 earthquake in their own country and from which they send
remittances home.

They have been caught up in a political and emotional tug-of-war
over well-documented history that still rankles both sides. The US
and Swedish votes were a result of steady lobbying for years by the
powerful Armenian disapora, which has pushed for similar genocide
resolutions in other countries.

The latest votes knocked the Turkish government "off balance, so
there is a certain anger and concern that they need to deter upcoming
votes in [other] parliaments by making a strong stand against this,"
says Cengiz Candar, a columnist for Radikal newspaper and Hurriyet
Online in Istanbul.

"It seems a very careless statement," says Mr. Candar. He adds that
Erdogan’s comments may appeal to some nationalists in Turkey but have
also prompted a "very negative response" by many who normally support
the policies of the Islamist-rooted government.

"I don’t think that he will be implementing that — sending Armenians
working here back to Armenia," says Candar. "But it is a signal sent
to Armenia to deter them from supporting [such] genocide resolutions
out loud."

Erdogan was explicit on that point in the interview. "Armenia has an
important decision to make," he said. "It should free itself from its
attachments to the diaspora. Any country which cares for Armenia,
namely the US, France and Russia, should primarily help Armenia to
free itself from the influence of the diaspora."