Turkish Armenians indignant at Defense Minister's statementNovember 13, 2008 - 15:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Those who do not like Turkey's "one nation, one flag" structure can leave and go anywhere they like better, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said when commenting on Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul statement that Turkey had to deport Greeks and Armenians in the beginning of the 20th century. Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul took this threatening discourse to new heights on Monday with a speech he gave at the Turkish Embassy in Brussels. "Would we be the nation-state we are today if the Greeks in the Aegean region or the Armenians here and there continued to stay in Turkey?" he asked. Gonul drew harsh criticism from intellectuals and civil society organizations for expressing ideas in a way that could be taken for justifying ethnic cleansing. The Armenian community of Istanbul sent a letter to PM Erdogan to remind that the Turkish Constitution says that Turk is a citizen of Turkey, irrelative of the nationality, Turkish Press Review reports. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |