Erdogan Again Threatens to Expell Armenian Nationals from Turkey

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken harshly against the remarks of Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian who has criticized  Turkey’s role in Karbakh conflict and declared that Armenia is ready for a war with Azerbaijani.

“Armenia is playing with fire. More than 100,000 Armenians are living in Turkey, some of whom do not have residence permits. The situation has been tolerated by Turkey. These actions show how friendly Turkey has been acting. However, Armenia cannot see this,” Erdogan stated during the flight from Baku to Croatia, Turkish Yenisafak periodical reports.

“But the current situation is very obvious. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his country have been gaining power during the ongoing clashes. Even Russia cannot support Armenia openly. Despite Armenians’ statements that the losses are not important, in fact the Armenian side is possessed by fear,” Erdogan said.

“In terms of its population, number of the troops and other opportunities, Azerbaijan has much more power than Armenia. Azerbaijan is unique, different from Georgia or Ukraine. Russia could not get the result it was expecting in Ukraine, but it only got results in Crimea due to the small number of Tatars there,” he added.

On April 2 Erdogan expressed his support and solidarity with Azerbaijan. Erdogan said the Turkish people had always stood by the people of Azerbaijan, and extended condolences over the killing of Azerbaijani servicemen.

“We pray our Azerbaijani brothers will prevail in these clashes with the least casualties,” Erdogan was quoted on April 3 telling an Azerbaijani reporter while on a visit to the United States.

In April of last year Erdogan threatened to deport citizens of the Republic of Armenia who live and work in Turkey, as a response to the European Parliament’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.