19 Mar Turkey to the World: Use the Word Genocide and We’ll Kick Out the Armenians
You just can’t make this stuff up:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has taken a harsh position against undocumented Armenian workers in Turkey, threatening to expel thousands amid tensions over allegations that Armenians were victims of “genocide” during the last days of the Ottoman Empire.
Resolutions passed recently in the United States and Sweden to brand the World War I killings as “genocide” undermine peace efforts with Armenia, Erdoğan said during his visit to London, according to excerpts from an interview with the BBC Turkish service published on the BBC Web site late Tuesday.
[snip]
Referring to about 100,000 undocumented Armenians working in Turkey that Ankara has so far tolerated, Erdoğan said: “So what will I do tomorrow? If necessary, I will tell them ‘come on, back to your country’… I’m not obliged to keep them in my country. Those actions [on genocide resolutions] unfortunately have a negative impact on our sincere attitudes,” Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying.
Hmm, Turkey deporting large numbers of Armenians. Why does that sound so familiar…
Why are you so surprised about this particular speech?
The PM is famous for a whole bunch of “interesting” remarks on various topics ranging from his sentimental “one minute” to his recommendation of having at least three children.
He is discriminating against Armenians but also admitting his administrations fault; if a government knowingly admits to oversee laws, can you trust it? If the government knew about illegal workers, why did it not prosecute them in the first place or why does it not try to change the legislation legalising those workers if it is not against deporting them.
Thank you Mr. PM,
not the brightest idea at all !!!
That said, I think he is trying to say “look we have so far tolarated 100K Armenians, whoare earning their life here in Turkey. See we are no enemies for today’s Armenians.”
Yes he utterly fails to convey the right message and what he said, if interpreted mot-a-mot, is terrible.
Oh BTW according to more reliable studies, the number of these undocumented Armenians are about 15K, roughly speaking; not that close to 100K.
My Dear Colleagues, Both the subject matter and the discussion forum compels me to set up the framework on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (hereinafter as “RSIW”). In this regard, the Prime Minister’s remarks are certainly attributable to Turkey, within the meaning of the Article 2/a and 4/1 of the RSIW. However, without prejudicing my personal view on the absurdity of such remarks, the essential question is “how unlawful is the deportation of a number of undocumented –that means unlawful- resident aliens” within the meaning of the Article 2/b of the RSIW? This to be left for further discussion, I feel the urge to present a different perspective to the community of distinguished international lawyers. I would humbly call it as the anachronism in the international legal discourse. Notwithstanding the how tragic the incidents of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire might be, the legal merit of the efforts for qualifying them as genocide should be seriously questioned. Here, I would probably be subjected to harsh criticism of being too “legalistic” to refer to the well-established principle of nullum crimen sine lege and the fact that there is over 30 years between the great calamity and the Convention… Read more »