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Turkish PM Counters Armenian Genocide With Threats Of Expulsion

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  • Turkish PM Counters Armenian Genocide With Threats Of Expulsion

    TURKISH PM COUNTERS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WITH THREATS OF EXPULSION

    DC Progressive
    http://dcprogressive.org/2010/03/17/tu rkish-pm-counters-armenian-genocide-with-threats-o f-expulsion/
    March 17 2010

    Turkish Prime minister Erdogan's proposed course of action regarding
    the Armenian genocide is painfully ironic. The logic goes something
    like this: "Our nation did not systematically round up and murder
    over one million Armenians during World War I. And to prove it,
    I will now systematically round up and expel hundreds of thousands
    of Armenians living on Turkish soil." Try arguing with that.

    In response to recent resolutions passed in the US Congress and
    Swedish Parliament characterizing the war-time massacres of Armenians
    as genocide, the Turkish government has recalled its ambassadors from
    both countries. Then, the Prime Minister suggested in an interview
    with the BBC that such international recognition of the genocide
    would prompt an expulsion of Armenian immigrants living in Turkey.

    "There are currently 170,000 Armenians living in our country. 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."

    The undocumented workers to which the PM refers are mostly women from
    Armenia's impoverished countryside who have migrated to Istanbul where
    they work in the service sector. While a number of politicians have
    described Erdogan's comments as empty threats, they are a troubling
    reminder that Armenians are still unwelcome in Turkey.

    To date, over twenty countries have officially recognized the Armenian
    genocide, as well as international organizations including the European
    Parliament and MERCOSUR.
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