Erdogan to Armenians: ‘They will Play and Dance on their Own on April 24’

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about the commemoration events to be held in Armenia on the 100th anniversary of the Genocide:

“Now, what will they do on the 24th; they are going to get together in Armenia, and they will play and dance on their own. They will speak, they will do this and that, and they will hurl insults at Turkey. As for us, we will get together on April 24 in Gallipoli, but Armenia does not feature on our agenda. On April 23, tomorrow, we will talk about world peace in Istanbul, that is our difference.”

“Armenia speaks as if our 100th anniversary Gallipoli commemorations are in retaliation to theirs. We have no such qualms. We have no such worries, either. Whatever they talk about there, the almost 100 heads of state, prime ministers, ministers and ambassadors who will come to Turkey on April 24 will see very well what is being done there.”

Erdogan made his comments during a joint press conference with Iraqi President Fuad Masum participate in the “Peace Summit” in Istanbul, within the scope of the centennial anniversary of the Gallipoli battle commemorations.

Erdogan also commented on the genocide resolution of the European Parliament: “The European Union is not ahead of us, they lag very far behind. Their latest statement mentions the ‘opening of archives’. I have said for 12 years that we are ready to open these archives at any time. Either they have ears but cannot hear, or they are busy with other things. We are ready to open our archives, if Armenia also has archives at this point, then they, too, should open their archives.”

Last week, the European Parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the 1915 events as “genocide.” It came three days after Pope Francis also called the 1915 incidents a “genocide,” drawing sharp criticism from the Turkish government.