Turkey could deport 100,000 Armenians

A deepening row has led Turkish prime minister to threaten to deport some 100,000 illegal Armenian immigrants from Turkey.

The row has been caused by accusations in Sweden and the US that Turkish mass killings of Armenians in the second world war was genocide. Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the BBC that 70,000 of 170,000 Armenians in Turkey are ´Turkish citizens´ he went on to say "We are turning a blind eye to the remaining 100,000... Tomorrow, I may tell these 100,000 to go back to their country, if it becomes necessary." The mass killings occurred in 1915 and are estimated to have taken the lives of some 1.5 million Armenians, in Turkey many claim that although the killings occurred it was not genocide but rather part of the war. Armenia has campaigned for Turkey to recognise the killings as genocide.