Azerbaijan, Baku, March 17 / Trend R.Hafizoglu /
Armenia should draw conclusion from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement regarding the eviction of 100,000 Armenians living illegally in the country, Erdogan's Adviser on Eurasia Geybulla Ramazanoglu thinks.
"Armenia and the Armenian lobby should be make conclusions from Erdogan's statements," he told Trend over the telephone from Ankara.
Erdogan warned of a possible expulsion of 100,000 Armenians living illegally in Turkey, in an interview for the BBC.
Erdogan said that nearly 170,000 Armenians live in Turkey now.
"About 70,000 of these people are our citizens and the rest are living in Turkey illegally," he told the BBC. "Tomorrow, if necessary, I will say that 100,000 of them have 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."
Erdogan said Armenia should be rescued from the diaspora's control.
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 the so-called 'genocide' and many other means. Armenia should understand that Turkey may also resort to different levers of pressure," Ramazanoglu said.
However, the Armenian lobby is unlikely to make concession in connection with Erdogan's statement.
"The welfare of Armenians has never been relevant for the Armenian lobby and the lobby has never worked in the interests of Armenia," he added.
Ramazanoglu said that the continuous negotiations are "at an impasse" and until Armenia backs down from its current position, there won't be any shift.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]