Armenian diaspora reacts to Obama administration over support to Erdogan's statements

Saturday, 20 March 2010 10:37

Statements of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan related to illegal Armenian immigrants in Turkey caused strain between Armenian diaspora and Washington administration.

One of the major Armenian lobbying organizations in United States, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reacted to the statements of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon who supported Erdogan's statements. Issuing a statement related to the issue, ANCA called President Barack Obama to apologize.

Upon a question in Brookings Institute in Washington, Gordon had evaluated Prime Minister Erdogan's statements related to 100,000 illegal Armenian immigrants in Turkey. Gordon said, "I guess, Erdogan wanted to call for attention that there are 100,000 Armenian immigrants in Turkey. I do not think it should be evaluated as a "threat" of deportation because he mentioned of them. He just brought the issue on the agenda. Every country has its illegal immigration problem and they should deal with it with their own laws."

Armenian diaspora reacted Gordon's statements harshly. Issuing a statement, ANCA claimed that Gordon is struggling to conceal Erdogan's statements and called President Barack Obama to condemn Gordon's statements.