Turkey's interior minister said Thursday that the condolences given by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Armenians ahead of the anniversary of the 1915 events reflect Turkey's "self-confidence" and its change to "proactive" politics.
Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala spoke with journalists from The Anadolu Agency as he visited the agency's headquarters in Ankara.
"Turkey would make a reactionary statement in the past," Ala said. "However, as in foreign policy, the government is adopting a proactive policy in domestic affairs as well, and before any other state or organization Turkey now refers to its problems itself."
Ala also said Erdogan's statement on 1915 events should assure Azerbaijani public that Turkey will not take action that would hurt Azerbaijan.
Upon a question on the fight against "parallel state" -- an alleged shadow structure nestled within the country's police department and judiciary which the Turkish government has said is led by U.S.-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen -- Ala said that had the government not intervened in time, the parallel state could have done "irrevocable damage" to Turkey.
Ala said the inquiry into the parallel said is being conducted in 43 provinces. It includes 198 different cases involving 839 people, he said. He added that 562 people's positions had been changed, 195 people had been dismissed and 2,316 people had been appointed to different provinces for their role in the parallel state.
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