It seems Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not see the irony in his statement Tuesday, when he threatened to deport Armenians from Turkey if Congress passes the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
For years, the Turkish government has used its “tolerance” toward undocumented Armenian immigrants, allegedly numbering 100,000, as a way to promote Turkey’s “good will” toward its neighbors.
Needless to say that a senior Armenian government official accused the Turks late last year of grossly inflating the number of illegal Armenians residing in Turkey, saying it does not exceed 5,200. An Istanbul-born Armenian researcher who studied the issue last year came up with a similar estimate.
In this most recent iteration of Turkey’s anger toward the U.S., Erdogan effectively took a page from the playbook of his ancestors of the Ottoman Empire, whose systematic deportation of Armenians was part of the Turks’ genocidal plan.
Erdogan and the Turkish government have gone to great lengths to deny the Armenian Genocide, yet this latest threat, broadcast worldwide on the BBC, proves only one thing: State-sponsored persecution is not only part of Turkey’s history but it is also engrained in its society.
Erdogan’s remarks should also raise red flags among those who invoke Turkey’s significance as an ally to rationalize their opposition to U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Their steadfast perpetuation of the Turkish lie gives a green light to the Turkish prime minister to nonchalantly use the threat of deportation against Armenian living in Turkey today.
Just imagine the visuals: the Turkish Interior Ministry rounds up the alleged 100,000 illegal Armenians from their homes and stuffs them into vehicles to be transported to their exile. Or will they want to them to walk to their exile?
The most shocking is the reaction of international leaders to this announcement. Instead of being admonished for his inhumane posturing, Erdogan, who is in London at the invitation of his British counterpart, Gordon Brown, was assured by British officials that the genocide bill pending in parliament would not pass.
While Armenia’s prime minister and justice minister were quick to criticize Erdogan’s latest desperate retort, they should have vocally stated that Armenia would welcome its own citizens back with open arms.
This statement should also send a clear signal to Armenia’s leadership that the protocols process, which was shortsighted to begin with, is in fact fraught with dangers for Armenians and their national security.
Ara Khachatourian
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To Erdogan
Hayde bakhalim! let’s see you keep your word. Try deporting them..
I don’t know if 100,000 undocumented illegal Armenians living in the Istanbul area is accurate or not. For arguments sake, let’s say the figure is a more unversally acceptable figure of 75K-80K. This takes into consideration the monthly exodus of Armenians flocking to Turkey, as well as other destinations (due to the average of 6K Armenians leaving Armenia each month). Any ridiculous figure of 5K…especially from an ARMENIAN source, is to be taken with a grain of salt! After all, they do have a rather negative track record when it comes to “figures”! So, 75K-80K may indeed be the actual figure of illegal Armenians living in Istanbul. We tolerate them. We’re under no obligation to utilize Turkish tax funds to support them (look at the welfare mess they’ve long since created in Glendale, CA). Let them go back to Armenia, and we should also prevent illegal Armenians from crossing into Turkey (we’ll do the same for the Bulgarian illegals if Sophia tries to play the same game in their parliament)! Even Gordon of the US State Dept. cites that Turkey has every legal ground to do so!! So, who will the dashnaks whine to then?
Erdogan, Will you murder and mutilate “your” Amernians too, the way you did the LAST time?
Adolf Hitler, when told that any planned genocide against the Jews of Germany would result in world outrage, replied, “Who remembers what happened to the Armenians?”
Erdogan, WE WILL NEVER LET YOU FORGET UNTIL YOU ADMIT WHAT YOUR PEOPLE DID.
to: Ara K.
From what I have read, many of these ‘illegal aliens’ in Turkey today are victims of their friends’ tricks of having them sent there with promises of a ‘better job’ only to end up as slaves & prostitutes!
You are right! The RA should welcome their own citizens (even if they are not citizens) with open arms! Governments were set up to protect their citizens from outside harm and today (even in N.A.) we need something to protect us from our own elected officials and our own laws & governments :(
G
Like a good politician, his mouth runs away from him often. That was a disgusting comment to make right after the event organized for the Roma, where in effect they were embraced by the state and there was even an apology. Then he folows it with such an awful and shameful statement. He is an enigma even to his followers I think.
Humans with mature brain cells
Throwing Armenian Humans’
Once again… elsewhere.
I don’t know how long
Who slayed innocents ,now wants
The rest, to hurl them away.
I don’t know how long throwers can live.
Let everyone remember
That ‘the sigh’ is every once end
That is something should be respected
And through it the butchers can see their end.
During ‘Final Sigh’ time arrived to pray for God.
Begging mighty to livelonger on this earth
for more time to slay.
Yes, No time left to slay more!
The hell doors are open, calling them.
To come and join others
Who slayed and left
Without any shame, without any regret.