Armenia playing with fire: Turkish President

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has spoken harshly against the remarks of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan who used accusatory words against Turkey and declared that Armenia is ready for a war with Azerbaijani amid ongoing conflict in Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Armenia is playing with fire. More than 100,000 Armenians are living in Turkey, some of whom do not have residence permits. The situation has been tolerated by Turkey. Along with this, we also returned foundation goods of Armenian-origin Turkish citizens. These actions show how friendly Turkey has been acting. However, Armenia cannot see this," said Erdoğan during his flight from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

“But the current situation is very obvious. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his country have been gaining power during the ongoing clashes. Even Russia cannot support Armenia openly. Despite Armenians' statements that the losses are not important, in fact the Armenian side is possessed by fear," Erdoğan said.

“In terms of its population, number of the troops and other opportunities, Azerbaijan has much more power than Armenia. Azerbaijan is unique, different from Georgia or Ukraine. Russia could not get the result it was expecting in Ukraine, but it only got results in Crimea due to the small number of Tatars there," he added.

Erdoğan also touched upon developments concerning ties with Israel. He said that Turkish and Israeli delegations would meet again in May.

"The biggest problem in Gaza is energy. We proposed docking an energy-generating ship near the port of Ashdod to feed Gaza. They had some hesitations and proposed that we construct a joint Turkish-German energy plant instead. We said that could be possible. The most important thing is for the plant to be constructed there; however, we haven't withdrawn our ship proposal, “Erdoğan said.

“Our second concern is the water problem in the region. Sea water should be desalinated. They find our suggestion for a solution favorable. They also need schools and hospitals," said Erdoğan.

Erdoğan also added Turkey hopes to see results as soon as the urgent issues are resolved that and all the developments are being relayec to Palestinian authorities.

Turkish President Erdoğan commented on the ongoing efforts against Daesh terrorists in Syria, saying that Turkey acts despite the fact the US hasn't recently mentioned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)- affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) and People's Protection Units (YPG).

“Turkey continues to be deliberate and keep our sensitivity on this issue. In Azaz region (of Syria) the clashes were intensified as regime has been losing power. But it is important to support the moderate opposition. And as a part of this support, US has already send a trainer team of 250 people, “he said.

Erdoğan also criticized United States President Barack Obama for his words that it would be a “mistake" to send Western troops into Syria to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, saying these kinds of statements are against the consistency of government policy.

Erdoğan also said that the safe zone which is planned in Menbij, in the middle of Afrin and Jarabulus regions and the 90-square-kilometer area can be widened. He accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of not taking any action on Turkey's suggestions.

Responding to a question asking whether Germany has a plan to set up a permanent base in Turkey's Incirlik Airbase, Erdoğan said that Germany can stay as long as Turkey permits.

“Germany and France are there as NATO members and inured to Turkey's benefits. This should be also noted," he said.