“Today Azeris, Turkmen, Uzbeks, Georgians, Sudanese and Armenians work illegally in Turkey. You are not mistaken-Armenians too. Turkey is a poor country but still feeds the neighbors,” the newspaper reads, underlining there are about sixty-seventy thousand illegal workers in Turkey.

“A year ago Turkish Prime-Minister stated there were 50 000 illegal Armenians working in the country, the head of Internal Affairs Ministry said 53 000, while former Foreign Minister Yashar Yakish mentioned 70 000,” the article reads.

Begun appeals to RA President: “Armenia’s population is 2.5-3 mln, of which 70 000 earn their living in Turkey. If we assume one worker feeding 3-4 people, this number comes to 210 000. This is a huge number for Armenia. How many Armenians get work permit in France, Belgium, Canada or Netherlands? Illegally working Armenians would be deported immediately from those countries.”
The newspaper underlines in short accents that RA President pushes away Turkey’s lent friendly hand, refusing to come “to football match that is a symbol of friendship.” You may come or not. “However, learning of 200-300 thousands illegal workers making their living in Turkey, you should come and apologize,” the author concludes.

Under Swiss auspices, on April 22 the Armenian and Turkish governments have agreed on a framework, signing a roadmap of relations’ normalization and border gate unblocking with no preconditions. Thus, Armenian Presidents statement on complying with the clause cannot be viewed as precondition, as it is already agreed with Turkish authorities. The matter is different, if the Turkish officials are not ready to meet political agreements and obligations, trying to elude from fulfilling their commitments calling them preconditions of Armenia.