Turkish PM steps back from Armenian workers expulsion threat

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he had no immediate plans to expel illegal Armenian workers after his threat to do so sparked a barrage of criticism at home and abroad.

Erdogan however urged Western countries to stop branding the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as "genocide," slamming such moves as attempts to "tarnish" Turkey's honour and "meddle" in its ties with Armenia.

The Turkish media and rights groups accused Erdogan of treating illegal Armenians as a pawn in Ankara's protests after his threat earlier this week to deport thousands of impoverished Armenians working illegally in Turkey.

But Erdogan said his remarks were aimed "at drawing the world's attention to our tolerant approach towards those people" and did not mean that "we will take such a step immediately."

"What I am saying is that those who pass these baseless (genocide) resolutions... should see the humanitarian perspective from which we look at the problem... They should not meddle in our ties with our neighbours," Erdogan told a gathering of Turkish artists.

"We are not speaking about citizens or immigrants or refugees. Still, we have shown good will. We have displayed tolerance towards some needy people... and we will continue to do so," he said.

But "we cannot stay silent when some people take actions to tarnish the honour of Turkey and the Turkish people, while we are displaying all kind of good will and tolerance," he added.

Erdogan blamed the "genocide" resolutions on the influential Armenian diaspora in the West and "those who use them."

In an interview with the BBC Turkish service Tuesday, Erdogan threatened to expel illegal Armenian workers if foreign parliaments continued to pass such resolutions, prompting a condemnation from Yerevan and harsh domestic criticism that his remarks damaged already troubled peace efforts with Armenia.

-AFP