Erdoğan: They Called Me, Excuse Me, Armenian

Presidential candidate and PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remarked in a TV program: “Some called me a Georgian. Others called me even, excuse me, an Armenian in a shameful way. I am a Turk!”

Having participated in a TV program entitled “Candidates Are Speaking” which is common broadcast of NTV and Star TV, Erdoğan has talked about Turkey’s parallel structure [a term coined for the influence of Gulen Movement in the bureaucracy], ISIL, and presidential elections. 

Previously, Erdoğan had addressed Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of Republican People's Party (CHP) and Selahattin Demirtaş, presidential candidate from People's Democratic Party (HDP) in a public meeting: “Kılıçdaroğlu, you are Alevi and I’m Sunni. Say it. And Demirtaş, you are Zaza. Don’t be scared of saying that.” 

After he was reminded his words in the program, he stated:

“Let Turks say that they are Turk and Kurds say they are Kurd in Turkey. What’s wrong with it? They called me sometime as several things. Some called me Georgian. Others called me even, excuse me, an Armenian in a shameful way. What I learned from my father and grandfather is that I am Turk. It’s that simple.”

“Excuse me, we were nothing more than Greeks”

On 11 June 2011, prior to general elections, Erdoğan had stated again in NTV that there are lots of [conspiracy] books written about himself and president Abdullah Gül. 

“In those books we were nothing more than Jews, Armenians and, excuse me, also Greeks. Can you think about it? They are writing without stopping in prison. What to do with these people? There is only one solution, the judiciary. Is there any other?” he said. (NV/MUY/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.