Erdogan has no immediate plans to expel Armenians

21/03/2010

ANKARA, Turkey -- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday (March 20th) that he has no immediate plans to expel illegal Armenian workers. Earlier this week, he stated in an interview with the BBC's Turkish service that some 100,000 illegal immigrants from Armenia might be sent home. Speaking at a gathering of Turkish artists in Istanbul on Saturday, Erdogan pointed out that his statement was meant to attract the attention of the international community to his country's "tolerant approach" to Armenians, adding he did not mean that such a step would be immediate. Erdogan said Turkey will continue to deal with the illegal immigrants issue humanely and urged Western countries to stop branding the 1915 killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Erdogan's statement about the possible deportation of Armenians sparked criticism both at home and abroad. On Friday, some 150 people gathered in Istanbul in a demonstration organised by an NGO defending the rights of immigrants. (AFP, CNN Turk, Hurriyet - 20/03/10)