Experts: Turkish PM's on eviction of illegally living Armenians will negatively impact establishing of Ankara-Yerevan relations

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statements on eviction of illegally Armenian migrants from the country will adversely affect the process of normalization of the Ankara-Yerevan relations, experts believe.

"The Armenian lobby will use Erdogan's statement against Turkey," Johns Hopkins University, Institute of Central Asia and Caucasus director, Svante Cornell said. "This is will unambiguously negative impact on the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations and the overall impact on Turkey's current situation."

Erdogan warned of possible expulsion of 100,000 Armenians illegally living in Turkey, if Armenia does not get rid of the Armenian diaspora's control, in an interview to the British BBC television and radio company.

It was the minister's response to the question asked about Ankara's reaction to adoption of a resolution recognizing the so-called "Armenian genocide" by the several countries' parliaments.

A week after the adoption of the resolution on "Armenian genocide" by the U.S Congress's committee March 4, the Swedish parliament by a margin of one vote, approved the document that recognizes the so-called "genocide."

Erdogan said nearly 170,000 Armenians live in Turkey currently. "70,000 of these people are our citizens and others are living in Turkey illegally," he said. "Tomorrow, if necessary, I will say that 100,000 to leave our country. I'll do this because they are not our citizens and I am not obliged to keep them in our country."

Observers believe Erdogan's statement is a diplomatic message- warning for Armenia. However, the world Armenian diaspora is unlikely to respond to it.

Armenia should draw conclusion from Turkish Erdogan's statement on eviction of illegally living 100,000 Armenians from the country, Erdogan's Adviser on Eurasia Geybulla Ramazanoglu thinks.

With such a statement, Erdogan wants to show the world and the Armenian lobby that Turkey has great capacity to deal with the Armenians.

"It is no secret that Armenia continues its pressure on Ankara over its so-called" Armenian genocide "and many other means. Armenia should understand that Turkey may also, as it, to resort to different levers of pressure," Ramazanoglu said.

However, the Armenian lobby is unlikely to make concessions towards Erdogan's statement, experts said. "The Armenians' welfare has never been urgent for the Armenian lobby. The lobby has never worked in the interests of Armenia", Prime Minister's advisor said.

According to Azerbaijani political analyst Tofig Abbasov, a 100-strong army of illegal immigrants in the country with strict immigration procedures, should be considered as created support to normalize relations. It is programmed and will be held. Besides illegal immigrants, there is also a numerous Armenian diaspora in Turkey. It is also endowed with a conciliatory function. All these forces together will rebuild the very foundation which is necessary for the restoration of relations.

"I think Erdogan's statement about the possible expulsion of illegal Armenian immigrants from Turkey is the link in the chain of emotional skirmishes that ensued between the parties after a failure in the protocol of diplomacy," analytical group "Lider-TV" expert Abbasov said.

However, according to experts, Erdogan's statement will negatively affect the process of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement.

Ramazanoglu said that the ongoing negotiations "at an impasse" and while Armenia does not back down from its current position with regard to Turkey and Azerbaijan, there will not be any shift in these negotiations.

According to Abbasov, it was naive to believe that reconciliation will occur without a problem. The question is not simple. One can say that it is painful for both Armenia and Turkey. But one should cross the existing barriers, expert said. Washington insists on this as the main initiator of the whole program, he said. "All this is done because Armenia as a country has already resigned itself as a migrant worker of a big geopolitical market. Because of incompetence as a subject of international policy, Yerevan was forced to go on a desperate action, by delegating its powers to take important decisions to the superpowers," Abbasov said.

For this reason, Armenia will not be able to do anything significant if Ankara takes extreme measures, he said.

According to Cornell, Erdogan must not have done such nationalist statements in such a sensitive moment for the Armenian-Turkish relations, when the protocols have not been ratified, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution on "genocide", which only exacerbated the tensions between the two countries.

"Such statements are sure to negatively affect the process of establishing the relations between Ankara and Yerevan," Cornel said.


/Trend News/