During a speech in the Turkish city of Kojaeli yesterday, President of Turkey Recep Tayyib Erdogan touched upon the Armenian Genocide, the Pope’s sermon and the European Parliament’s Armenian Genocide Resolution once again and reiterated what he had stated before, saying that those messages and resolutions mean nothing to the Turks. “They go in one ear and out the other,” he said.

As the Turkish Ilhas news agency reports, according to ermenihaber.am, Erdogan addressed the world and particularly the Armenians and said the following: “The Armenians will suffer the most from not looking at the issue historically and using it as a political instrument. We know that this issue has nothing to do with protecting the Armenians.”

Erdogan talked about the tens of thousands of Armenians living in Turkey once again. According to him, there are 40,000 Armenians living legally in Turkey, and there are 80,000 Armenian immigrants.

“It was the Turks who restored the Armenian church at Akhtamar Island on Lake Van and opened the doors for all Armenians around the world. We are fulfilling our duty for our remorse. After all that, how is it that they are taking such steps against us? Nothing will come out of this politically motivated campaign against Turkey, but the Armenians will suffer from this.”

Erdogan also mentioned that Turkey has no problems with the Armenians and brought up the example of the Armenians living side-by-side with the Turks in the Armenian-populated districts of Istanbul. Erdogan reiterated the famous words about Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, saying that the latter are leaving the hand that Turkey has extended in thin air. At the end, he talked about the archives and said that Turkey’s archives are always open and that anyone can come and examine them.