ISTANBUL (Azatutyun) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strongly condemned Turkish-Armenian Member of Parliament Garo Paylan for demanding that Ankara officially recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide.
Erdogan said on April 25 that a corresponding parliamentary resolution drafted by Paylan, amounts to high treason.
The resolution not only calls for a formal recognition of the genocide but also says that the Turkish authorities must rename streets bearing the names of Ottoman masterminds of the genocide and offer Turkish citizenship to Armenian descendants of its survivors.
“We regard as clear treason the manifestation of such brazenness in this body symbolizing the expression of national will,” Erdogan said after chairing a cabinet meeting in Ankara on Monday.
Erdogan said that the Turkish authorities will take “appropriate actions” against Paylan. But he did not clarify whether the 49-year-old lawmaker representing the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP will face criminal charges.
The authorities have for years tried to strip Paylan of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
