YEREVAN. – Turkey wishes to get rid of the Armenians living in northern Syria, Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences Institute of Orientology Director, turkologist Ruben Safrastyan stated during a press conference on Tuesday.

According to him, such policy is an important part of official Ankara’s agenda. “The eradication of this community of the Armenian diaspora has always been an objective of Turkey. These objectives repeat the [Syrian] rebels’ statements in which anti-Armenian sentiments can already be noticed,” Safrastyan noted.

He added that if the Turkish troops cross the Syrian border, the potential peril that is threatening the Aleppo Armenians cannot be ruled out because the city is a mere 50-60 kilometers away from the border. “Such statements can also be to scare so that the Armenians leave the region. [And] This would be a huge loss for us, since the [Armenian] community of Aleppo is the most conservative-national community of our diaspora,” Ruben Safrastyan stated.