The Heritage Party (Armenia) is preparing its response to Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan. The party's statement will be sent out to all the members of the CE Parliamentary Assembly.

"We must ask the PACE members whether an official of a CE member-state can resort to threats and blackmail. We should not forget that Istanbul, that is Constantinople, is the homeland of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and, of course, Turks," Zaruhi Bostanjyan, a Heritage Party member, stated at a news briefing.

Yeghine Bisharyan, Head of the Country of Law faction, is surprised at the fact that a state seeking full membership of the European family threatens to deport Armenians. Statements like that only impede the Armenian-Turkish normalization process and cause damage to Turkey's international reputation. "Erdogan's statements show we should implement a more cautious policy so as not to cause any harm to the Armenians abroad," Bisharyan said.

Hrair Karapetyan, Chairman of the Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs, RA Parliament, said that Erdogan's statement proves Turkey has not changed its style. "Authorities change, the style remains the same," he said. Karapetyan stressed that Turkey poses a threat to Armenians now as well.

"It was statements like that that provoked the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey early in the 20th century. The recognition of the Armenian Genocide has become even more topical amid this, and we must exert greater efforts," Karapetyan said. He stated that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) (ARFD) will take an active part in the commemoration of the 95th and 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The Turkish Premier threatened recently that the illegal Armenian immigrants, 100,000 people, will be deported from Turkey.

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