Washington tries to smooth Erdogan's statement
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent statement about deportation of 100 thousand illegal Armenians immigrants should not be linked to the Armenians Genocide resolution adopted by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to Philip Gordon, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.
"Mr. Erdogan just wanted to say that there are 100 thousand Armenian immigrants in Turkey but I don't think he threatened to evict them," CNN-Turk quoted Mr. Gordon as saying.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday 100 thousand illegal Armenian immigrants can be deported from the country.
"There are 170 thousand Armenians living in Turkey. 70 thousand of them are Turkish citizens. If necessary, I will tell the remaining 100 thousand to leave. I can do so because they are not Turkish citizens and I'm not obliged to keep them in my country," Erdogan said.
"Mr. Erdogan just wanted to say that there are 100 thousand Armenian immigrants in Turkey but I don't think he threatened to evict them," CNN-Turk quoted Mr. Gordon as saying.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday 100 thousand illegal Armenian immigrants can be deported from the country.
"There are 170 thousand Armenians living in Turkey. 70 thousand of them are Turkish citizens. If necessary, I will tell the remaining 100 thousand to leave. I can do so because they are not Turkish citizens and I'm not obliged to keep them in my country," Erdogan said.
