Congressmen Jim Costa and Adam Schiff have spoken out forcefully against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chilling warning – clearly intended to intimidate Armenia by raising the specter of 1915 — that Ankara may respond to international recognition of the Armenian Genocide by launching a new wave of deportations of Armenians living in Turkey, reads the press release by Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“Prime Minister Erdogan’s cruel threat to expel Armenians from Turkey as punishment for the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s recent markup of Armenian Genocide commemoration resolution is the latest example of a longstanding policy of using Armenians as ‘human shields’ in Ankara’s campaign of genocide denial. Ninety-five years after Ottoman troops forced marched hundreds of thousands of Armenians through the desert and to their deaths, Erdogan’s comments add a new measure of cruelty towards the survivors and their families,” said Congressman Schiff.

“Turkey’s threat of deportation against Armenian migrants, whether documented or undocumented, is irresponsible, especially considering that Armenia-Turkey relations continue to be haunted by the Armenian Genocide,” said Congressman Costa.

ANCA supported Congressman Costa and Schiff's powerful and principled comments condemning Erdogan’s threats that contrast with the State Department’s strained and, frankly implausible efforts to somehow dismiss Ankara’s chilling warnings as a simple immigration issue, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian stated.