President Erdoğan, after the Armenian Genocide resolution was passed in Bundestag, threatened to send Armenian citizens living Turkey to Armenia. Erdoğan made a similar statement in 2010.
"If there is anyone
who sees Gezi Park protests as an environmentalist movement, who sees
the activities of the terrorist organization as democratic reactions,
I would call that person's sanity into question. Bundestag's decision
is the continuation of this mentality.
"Germany, which is the last country that can speak about genocide, accuses us for genocide. This is nonsense.
“We have done nothing to be ashamed of”
“I emphasize once again, there is nothing to be ashamed of in our history. However, in the history of each country that threatens us with Armenian Genocide resolutions, there are blood of millions of innocent people.”
“Armenians are being abused”
“I am sure that Armenians are not the issue here, they are abused and instrumentalized.
“In the world, the Armenian question is a useful tool for blackmailing Turkey.
To Cem Özdemir: he is a child, he doesn't know
“The person who brought this issue to Bundestag's agenda is a child. Do you know anything about this issue? What kind of a historical knowledge do you have? Have you seen any archive? We should ask him those questions.
“He was born and raised in Germany. Or he was born here and then went to Germany. Go wherever you want, but insulting Tayyip Erdoğan won't bring you anything.
“However, I am surprised how Bundestag supports such people.
“I am addressing German politicians. If you are honest, make your archives public. We did this. Let's work together for figuring this out.
“We will send the Armenians who are not Turkish citizens back to Armenia”
“We know that this is not about the rights of Armenian people. They are being abused. I hope Armenians will realize this and stop this abuse.
“Currently, there are almost 100.000 Armenians in my country. Almost half of them are Turkish citizens. However, the other half is Armenian citizens and we can send them back to Armenia, like Europe did.
Not the first threat
In 2010, Erdoğan, while he was the prime minister, posed the same threat after the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs of the United States House of Representatives and Swedish parliament passed decisions recognizing the genocide. Here is the statement that he made in 2010: "There are 170.000 Armenians in my country, 70.000 of them being my citizens. However, we handle 100.000 Armenians for now. If needed, I would send them back to their country. What else could I do? They are not my citizens and I don't have to keep them in my country."
