BY OKTAY EKSI
HURRIYET- Armenians in Armenia are in big trouble. Nowadays, each and every one of them comments on how beneficial it would be for Turkey to unseal its border gate to Armenia. Leyla Tavsanoglu’s interview with Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) moderator David Philips was published in Sunday’s Cumhuriyet’s. Philips is obviously one of those who seems sure that we’re too stupid to recognize our own national interests. He mentions 10 times during the interview how we could benefit from opening our border gate to Armenia. He’s actually trying to say, ‘Just open your gates, the rest is easy.’
Not only Armenians, but also proponents of the Armenian ‘genocide’ thesis among us and especially the US have recently been dropping the border gate issue whenever possible. Whatever they are going to say, they begin with, ‘You should open your borders to Armenia…’
All these efforts surely serve a good purpose. Armenia had a population of 3.44 million in 1998. However, by 2004 its population had fallen to just 2.99 million. The reason why almost 500,000 people left Armenia during this six-year period is purely poverty. The Armenian economy is a shambles, and half of its population lives in poverty.
Once they persuade us to open the border gates, their next move will be to try to open out to international markets and improve their economy. Soon enough, they will be trying to corner us and get us to admit their ‘genocide’ claims. Their constitution and declaration of independence are full of hatred against us, and they will be trying to realize their schemes at the earliest opportunity.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul recently noted that over 40,000 Armenians work just in Istanbul, which is a sign of Turkey’s good will. But what do we get in return? Armenia pushes to make us recognize their ‘genocide’ claims. And next they’ll demand compensation and land from us. They don’t even bother to conceal their aims. What kind of a person would agree to this?