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Turkey Threatens To Expel Armenian Immigrants Amid Genocide Row

"If necessary, I will tell them, 'Come on, back to your country'," says Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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March 17, 2010

(RFE/RL) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to expel thousands of Armenian immigrants from the country, amid ongoing tensions over the World War I-era mass killing of Armenians by Turkish forces.

Erdogan said the presence of an estimated 100,000 Armenians currently living in Turkey without citizenship may no longer be tolerated.

The comment to the BBC's Turkish-language service during a visit to London on March 17 follows resolutions by U.S. and Swedish lawmakers branding the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "genocide."

Asked about the resolutions and referring to non-Turkish Armenian citizens working in Turkey, Erdogan said, "If necessary, I will tell them, 'Come on, back to your country'...I'm not obliged to keep them in my country."

Armenian officials criticized the comments.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian

Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said such statements "do not contribute to the improvement of relations."

"I think it's a violation of human rights," Armenian Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobian told RFE/RL's Armenian Service. "No one has the right to force anyone to choose a place for living. This is an absolute human rights violation.

"And secondly," Hakobian continued, "I think this is yet another statement that we are accustomed to hearing, a groundless statement. The Armenian diaspora did, does, and will continue to struggle for [publicizing] the genocide, including in the Republic of Armenia."

However, Justice Minister Gevorg Danielian said Erdogan's comment was an empty threat. "These are simply statements of a political nature that can never become a reality," Danielian said. "There is not even a need to think what our state position will be on this account."

'Remind The Public'

Suat Kiniklioglu, foreign-affairs spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, also played down Erdogan's words, saying he felt the need to "remind the public" about Armenians living in Turkey. The Reuters news agency quoted Kiniklioglu as saying Erdogan was "not talking about something that would happen today or tomorrow."

Forced to leave their impoverished country to earn a living, the majority of Armenians in Turkey work in Istanbul. Many of them are women who work illegally and send remittances home.

It's unclear how many there are. A study by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation showed that there are between 12,000 and 13,000 Armenian citizens working illegally in Turkey. The results of the study were published by the Turkish newspaper "Zaman" in December 2009.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill at the Tsitsernakaberd genocide memorial in Yerevan today

Erdogan also said the recent U.S. and Swedish moves could further damage an already troubled process aimed at improving ties with neighboring Armenia, saying, "Those actions unfortunately have a negative impact on our sincere attitudes."

He added: "Those people make shows with those resolutions...and they harm the Armenian people, as well. And things become deadlocked."

In October 2009, Turkey and Armenia signed an accord aimed at normalizing bilateral relations following a century of hostility. But the two countries' parliaments have not yet approved the accord and the two governments have accused each other of lacking commitment to the deal.

'Just A Shield'

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian on March 16 described Turkey's claims that the genocide issue was hampering the normalization process as "just a shield" aimed at covering up Turkey's own obstruction.

Erdogan blamed the resolutions on the Armenian diaspora in the United States and Western Europe, and called on foreign governments to avoid being influenced by their lobbies.

"Armenia has an important decision to make," Erdogan said. "It should free itself from its attachment to the diaspora. Any country which cares for Armenia -- namely the United States, France, and Russia -- should primarily help Armenia to free itself from the influence of the diaspora."

Earlier this month, Turkey withdrew its ambassadors to Washington and Stockholm after the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Swedish parliament passed the nonbinding resolutions. Parliaments in several other countries have also recognized the killings as genocide in the past. One is Russia, whose Orthodox Patriarch Kirill laid wreaths at Yerevan's Armenian Genocide Monument today and delivered commemoration services in the victims' memory.

Armenia wants Turkey to recognize the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians as an act of genocide and has campaigned for them to be recognized as such internationally. But successive Turkish governments have refused to do so. Turkey accepts that many Armenians were killed in 1915 during the war and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire but argues that many Turks were casualties, too.

It also argues that the death toll has been inflated and says there was no systematic attempt to exterminate the empire's largest remaining Christian community.

written by Antoine Blua with contributions from RFE/RL's Armenian Service and agency reports

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Comment Sorting

Comments page of 2

by: RD

March 17, 2010 16:39

Here are some ridiculous points the Turkish Government keeps on making:

1 - The number of Armenian dead as a result of massacres of Armenians is inflated.
2 - The Armenian Diaspora is hurting reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey
3 - Recognition of the Armenian Genocide should stop. They are efforts of Armenian lobby groups

Below is the answer to the above puerile comments:

1 - Why should even 1 member of a race, community, religion etc. die for belonging to a specific group? The term "Genocide" does not apply to eradicating an entire group, but even part of a group.

2 - Erdogan has mentioned on a number of occasions that the sticking point to normalizing relations is the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. So, Mr. Erdogan, what is it? NK conflict resolution or the recognition of the Armenian Genocide? Furthermore, the Turkish Government as part of its protocols put forward the idea of establishing a committee to study the Armenian Genocide. Even though the idea is a farce and a delay tactic, if the study takes place and the scholars all agree Genocide was committed against Armenians, what good is it if Erdogan is going to deny it anyways? Will he at that point put down his guard and admit Turkey committed Genocide against the Armenians? The fact of the matter is, Turkey itself does not want to normalize relations and uses as many excuses as it can put its hands on.

3 - How can you stop recognizing anything that actually happened? The International Centre for Genocide Studies concluded that Genocide was committed against Armenians. The evidence is damning. You have almost 2 million Armenians living in Eastern Anatolia, and a few years later they are gone. This is like the short story of the Emperor's New Clothes. Let us ignore something that is always there.

Turkey is embarassing itself and so is Erdogan. You want to be respected internationally, start acting as a civilized nation.

In Response

by: JH from: USA

March 17, 2010 20:40

I wonder which source the figure "almost 2 million" is based on? The Ottoman census at the very end of 19th century listed 1.4 million. During and before Word War I, part of these people moved and settled in Russia's Erivan governorate, thus tipping the local demographic balance away from Muslims (Azeri Turks and Kurds) in favor of Armenians.

The next claim is 1.5 million were killed. Well, if 1.5 million out of 1.4 million were all killed(!), then how come there are over 7 million Armenians worldwide today?

In Response

by: Truth in your eye

March 19, 2010 02:06

Hey jack, JH

In 1844 the Ottoman recorded a total of 2.4 million non-Muslims (gayri müslim) within the Ottoman Empire. In 1867 this number remained the same. And all this in spite that fact beginning with 1876 the Ottoman census takers deliberately undercounted the numbers of non-muslims less than the true numbers.

Now you could use logic (if you have it) and tell me what the number of Armenians would have been in 1915 (71 years), especially knowing that most Armenians were country dwellers, and prone to having more children 8-10 each family.

In Response

by: fatih " the conqueror" from: istanbul, the heart of th

March 18, 2010 14:00

hey man
you say why a member of a rece should be killed bla bla. are you kidding? do you know that the ottoman empire was in state of war with many countries in World War 1. And you should read Justine McCarthy's books about the events of 1915. the ottman was batteling with russia and in the meantime the armenian people were causing troubles to Ottoman by breaking the telegraph line, railways and many other facilities. and you even do not know that armenian gangs killed thousands of innocent ottoman people. our archives are open, but yours are not. why do you not let both your historians and our historians solve the issue. do you think the USA, Europe or other countries support you for your favour.
if it were not for any benefit of their own, they would not even care that your country is in trouble. whom are you fooling? do not fool yourself!
those who regard the events of 1915 shoul look at themseves first. and they do not even care you if u have the same trouble with another country, lets say Russia. their trouble is with turkey, their trouble is with the arabs, their trouble is with the islam. they have been playing games against our country since our independence in 1923.

can you imagine their troublke if there is a strong Turkey at the heart of the world. get a map and look at its position on the world. it is located in the center of the world and this nation once led the whole world for 4 hundred years. please read some history and international policy. do not think so simple.

In Response

by: RD

March 18, 2010 15:30

FAITH from Istanbul, obviously you do not know what you are talking about and you are embarassing yourself with your puerile comments. However, I do not blame you because you have been lied to in your schools in Turkey for generations. That is all you know. The Armenians that lived in Eastern Anatolia were residents and citizens of the Ottoman Empire. They were a civilian population. If you had Armenians fighting against the Ottoman Empire by siding with Russia, you should deal with them as part of the Russian Army, but that does not give you the right to exterminate your own citizens who deserved the Ottoman Empire's protection. If you have Armenians disrupting railway lines or whatever else you claim, deal with them as individuals. You can not expell the entire Armenian population from their homes. These are absolutely assanine comments made by many Turks and especially from their statesmen, who you would expect would have more sense. As for JH, even Ottoman records show approximately 1.8 million Armenians lived in Eastern Anatolia. However, that is not important. You have a population that has lived in an area for thousands of years and has pretty much disappeared. Not sure what you call that. The fact that there are Armenians in the world today or survivors from the Genocide does not mean a Genocide was not committed against them. Stop embarassing yourself guys and stop listening to your government's lies and propaganda. You bring up Justin McCarthy as an example. I bring up the International Centre For Genocide Studies that explicitly states that what happened to the Armenians is Genocide. I have a number of close Turkish friends, and they all know what happened in 1915. Obviously they took their heads out of their back sides and tried to think for themselves.

by: Mr. Smith / Canada

March 17, 2010 17:26

I am very disappointed in Turkey and the way the nation handles their foreign and domestic affairs.

Turkey has never given territorial, ethic and moral respect to their neighboring countries and foreign races. ex. Armenians, Kurdish, Arabs and Greeks.

I remember a time when the socialist Nazi party in Germany used nationalistic ideas to make justification of the Genocide and discrimination of other ethnic origin citizens. The socialist party found a reason to eradicate foreigners from Germany and it started from discrimination of work, social affairs and they than moved on to literally removed their earthly existence.

Turkey must find grounds to accept their problems of their past and solve this problem before they can morally function as a nation of the 21 century.

In my own point of view, Turkey should return Land to the Armenians, Kurdish and Greeks. Also, Pay each living relative of the victims of the genocide in Turkey a lump sum of money.

This Genocide can not be denied there is too much evidence and where do you think the living relatives of the genocide victims live today. They live in Canada, USA, UK, Germany, Finland, Australia and so on. The Genocide happened during the Turkish-Russian War in WW1 and Turkey used similar principals and methods of nationalism to carry out this genocide.

Turkey is the one of the last countries on earth to have such a dirty past and not to mention the destruction of Early Christian history.

Not until the day I leave this earth will we rest until countries like Turkey change their government, nationalist ideals and policies. You live in a world with different communities and races and who are you to remove (people) what was created and existed before the nation Turkey.

In Response

by: truth from: toronto

March 17, 2010 22:22

Don't speak on issues you know nothing about, im part Kurdish and i can tell you the kurds are not treated badly, and that turkey works closely with there neighbors.
Also maybe Canada and the usa should return land to the natives of these lands.
And where's all this evidence that you mention??

"Turkey is the one of the last countries on earth to have such a dirty past and not to mention the destruction of Early Christian history. "
Again your just talking non sense Turkey has no dirtier of a past that so many of the countries around the globe including Canada US UK France and so on, and destruction of christian history?? are you crazy maybe you never been to Turkey so you say this.

In Response

by: truth from: toronto

March 18, 2010 05:51

funny i wrote a response to this but it never made it on here maybe some bias going on here

by: Jess

March 17, 2010 17:29

Is he also going to remove the 700 thousand Hemshins who are Armenian but were forcefully converted to Islam and Turkified?

Or the millions of Crypto-Armenians in Turkey today who were Turkified after the Genocide.

Or the descendent's of the ottoman Janissaries comprised of little Armenian boys who were taken away from their families and forcefully converted to muslim turks in the devşirme system.

In Response

by: Get it straight from: California

March 18, 2010 19:37

Janissaries are mostly taken from the Balkans....
It's possible there may be a few Armenians in the mix, but this would be a negligible amount... and wouldn't justify your comment "Janissaries comprised of little Armenian boys."

Janissaries were taken as children from Christian families in the Balkans. It is well documented that parents would often give their children, as the prospects offered to a Janissary are far superior than to Macedonian farm-boy. They were very well-educated and trained and often rose to great positions of power.

The reason they were taken from Christian families was so that they whouldn't have any kinship allegiences and wouldnt be susceptible to religious/sectarian allegiences. This way you'd have a system were individuals would move up the chain of command based purely on their own merit and not because they were so-and-so's son.

Those who have no understanding of the norms of this period, and whose primary motivation is to vilify the Turks often portray this practice as a form of human-rights abuse & slavery. But this greatly misses the point.

-Get it straight

In Response

by: Andrew from: Auckland

March 19, 2010 11:46

Actually, most of the Mamelukes and Janissaries were recruited from Georgia, Armenia, and Greek areas of the Turkish empire, until Georgia and Armenia fell under Russian influence.

Napoleons bodyguard was a Georgian Mameluke.

In Response

by: Get it straight

April 08, 2010 17:58

Mamluks and Janissaries are two very different things. Yes, Mamluks are originally from the Caucasus.

by: Hamik C Gregory from: Reno, NV USA

March 17, 2010 17:30

Thoughtless careless threat! Such an undiplomatic language will be damaging to Ankara’s international prestige! And, to actually expel Armenians, will make the situation even worst.
I don’t hear Turks making any threats. It is their government who is doing it! Obviously, the Turks are much smarter than their government!

by: ozball from: D.C.

March 17, 2010 17:37

Armenians had 100 years to take this court, and never did. WHY NOT? Because there is no evidence. No court would hear this case and never has. It has never been proven, but Armenians insist it's a fact, like gravity, and point to hundreds of books that support their claims, which just happen to be written by them, based on nothing but hearsay. The ones who claim they know something about have never ever been Turkey, nor Armenia for that matter. This is pure politics and money.

There's no sense in arguing whether or not this is a "fact" because it was never proven in any court, no evidence(physical or circumstantial exists, no motive exists, and on the contrary, there are huge pieces of evidence that contradict the "poor defenseless Armenians" theory: Namely, The Republic of Armenia which was carved out of Turkish lands. Was there Jewish State established from German lands? Nope. How about Jewish generals with memroials erected after them in Israel, who fought against Hitler? No, again, but in Armenia, they are proud of their war heroes.

In order to understand the issue, one must actually STUDY history, not sit here and show extreme prejudice against a nation who barely saved their own existence. Turks were nearly wiped out in WW1, and their nation was invaded and had been all but written off as non-existent. This accusation is an insult to people who died to save their existence and land. It is like accusing the victim of committing the crime.

The only winner in this case is Russia, who already has bases in Armenia, and aim to have bases in "reparation" lands. Incirlik, which ships 75% all supplies to Iraq and Afghanistan, will be a Russian base if Armenians get their way. And Port of Ceyhan, where at least 50% Iraqi oil is refined and shipped, also will be under the control of the Russian Navy.

So to those who think this is about apologies, or doing the right thing, or justice, please so some research or stay out of it. Not only will you be swindled but your kids, and their kids will have to pay for this travesty.

In Response

by: OneArmenian from: USA

March 17, 2010 20:11

Check your facts before you post ignorant things on the internet for the whole world to see!

Following the occupation of Constantinople by the Allied Powers, the British exerted pressure on the Sublime Porte and brought to trial the Turkish leaders who had held positions of responsibility between 1914 and 1918, for having committed, among other charges, the Armenian Genocide. The Court released its verdict on July 5 1919: Talat, Enver, Cemal, and Dr. Nazim were condemned to death in absentia

In Response

by: that guy from: Turkey

March 18, 2010 13:18

Resort to fallacies much?

I don't mean to imply his arguments were irrefutable, but using fallacies as counter-arguments can only do harm to your side of the discussion. Just saying.

by: Armenian from: USA

March 17, 2010 19:10

So what are you waiting for Erdogan? go ahead make our day!

by: Karo

March 17, 2010 20:05

turkey never change: it was, it is & it will be state of execration.

by: H.Erdemir from: Central Asia

March 17, 2010 20:34

After all these issues are you are saying this "the TURKS have no right to live in TURKIYE. Millions of any ethnicities lived and are living in Turkiye but the TURKS." Do you think the world need a "European civilized German as in the WWII", or "civilized Americans as in the example of Japonise extermination by atomic bombs", or "civilized Russians such as Lenin and Stalin eras."
Thanks to the TURKS that such ethnicities are still living today. Otherwise probably exterminated by the so-called "civilized nations" as in the examples aboe mentioned.

by: MPM from: Cambridge, MA USA

March 17, 2010 22:11

What would proclamations by Sweden and the US have to do with protocols between Armenia and Turkey? Nothing....but this guy continues to say 1+1=3. There's no way that these protocols were ever going to pass either parliament anyway, so using that threat is empty. Timing is everything for the Turkish revisionists, and come every April they pull something new from their sleeves. Great, send the 12,000 women home...then what?

by: J from: US

March 17, 2010 23:49

Coming from him, a strange topic to bring up. How many millions of turks are living in Austria, Germany, Sweden etc? Go to Vienna see for yourself.

In Response

by: Get it straight from: California

March 18, 2010 19:50

Good point

But they are mostly legal immigrants or guest-workes or whatever they call them. He is talking about illegal immigrants who come to work w/o paying taxes etc.

They come because the economic circumstances in Armenia are dire... partially because the border with Turkey are closed which greatly curtails trade.

This in turn is because the Armenian Diaspora with its infinite wisdom prefers to be stuck in the past and is more concerned about its personal vendetta with the Turkish nation than the well-being of their brethren in Armenia. Meaning: They prefer to waste all their energy and resources to pass petty laws in foreign countries which have no real effect on their own people, and which only serve to prove Turkey to keep its border closed.

That being said, I don't agree with deporting these people... and I don't think they will be deported.