On October 9, to participate in the meeting of the presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who was in France, met with the Turkish community at the Turkish Consulate General in Strasbourg.
Referring to the Armenian diaspora, Çavuşoğlu said: “When it comes to Turkey, we must once again show this unity. We established a Turkish-American National Steering Committee in the United States. Very effective work was started against the slanders of the Armenian Diaspora against our country. We will do everything possible to strengthen this organization in Europe as well. In France, where 800 thousand of Turks live, we can be more influential in politics.
Unfortunately, there is an Armenian diaspora here too, and a part of that diaspora is not friendly. They are against the normalization of Armenia-Turkey, and Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. We are talking about a diaspora that opposes the establishment of good relations and shows a hostile attitude. We expect you to express yourself against that diaspora in an even more organized way.”
Let’s remind that on September 24, during a meeting with Turkish citizens in the United States at the Consulate General of Turkey in Los Angeles, Çavuşoğlu once again targeted the Armenian Diaspora in the name of Diaspora Armenians living in the United States: “Finally, we took some steps, but due to the pressure on Armenia, the latter still cannot take the brave steps we want. It is necessary to encourage [Armenia-ed.], especially in the issues that are being negotiated with Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, maybe a small number, but a group of Armenians with an influential voice in the USA is against that settlement. They are also against the settlement with Turkey. They do not influence Armenia. They are always guided by hatred.”
After the third Artsakh war, in the official rhetoric of Turkey, statements of the RA authorities allegedly being under pressure from the diaspora are often found, and the diaspora, the bearer of Armenian demands, is targeted as a factor hindering the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. When the de facto authorities of RA enter into voluntary negotiations with Turkey “without preconditions”, in fact with Turkish preconditions, one of the demands of which is to abandon the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, it is natural that the diaspora and the Armenian national forces remain the only obstacles for Turkey to abort its claim.
All these statements sowing hostility against the Diaspora are a clear hint that if there is no resistance from the Diaspora and Armenian national forces, there will be no other obstacle for the so-called Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani “peace” because the de facto administration is ready. has succumbed to Turkish preconditions, up to the point of refusing the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Although, in the case of the current authorities, most of Turkey’s demands are, in fact, automatically satisfied due to the obvious coincidence of their and Turkey’s interests.
Click to view the article in Armenian.
