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Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenians to
give up genocide claims against Turks. He said, “We want to remove such
issues as genocide from our history books,” and gave the message that the
same approach was expected from Armenians.
In his New York visit, Erdogan met
Turks in the Turk House. As Turks complained about the Armenian genocide
claims, Erdogan said, “We do not plan to pursue a “defensive” policy,
rather, we plan to pursue an “offensive” one. If you pursue a defensive
policy, you will always try to respond to such claims.”
He added, “We want to remove such issues as genocide from our history
books. Armenians did similar things too. We shall express ourselves. The
important thing is being strong. If you are weak, they will cut many
dresses for you; but if you are strong, all these claims will disappear.”
Some officials stated that this call of Erdogan to Armenians was a message
to Greeks and Greek Cypriots as well.
Another important message of Erdogan was about the
border gate between Armenia and Turkey. Erdogan
drew attention to the fact that people living in the region demanded that
the border gate should be opened and implied that, if the friendly
initiatives of Turkey were reciprocated, then this demand could
be fulfilled. Erdogan said, “You should take steps towards us in the way we
approach to you, because no one can lead to anywhere by simply lobbying any
more.” Regarding the fact that the parliaments of different countries in
the world from time to time attempt to recognize or simply recognize the genocide
claims of Armenia, Erdogan said that those decisions meant
nothing and that, “I told this to the Swiss Prime Minister in Davos. I said
that the sole result of such a decision would be harming our bilateral
relations. There are 100 thousand Turks and 5 thousand Armenians living in Switzerland. They act
against this 100 thousand Turks for just 5 thousand Armenians.”
Apart from his messages to Armenians, Erdogan called on
Turks living in U.S. to engage in politics.
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