Turkey’s prime minister has announced a government plan for ruling out the term ethnic minority from the country’s social life.

“We are resolute on that. You are the natives of this land; you aren’t strangers here. Your traditions have been on these lands. And so they will continue living,” Cihan news agency quotes Ahmet Davutoglu as saying at a dinner event with ethnic minority groups.

Representatives of Turkey’s non-Muslim communities were invited to the event held in capital Ankara.

In his speech, Davutolgu also reportedly spoke of “beautiful recollections of history” and shared culture.

He asked the guests to never forget that the first Armenian novel was written in the Turkish language.

“Likewise, we should never ignore the Armenian factor’s big value in the Turkish music. We must never forget what harmony the Jewish and Greek cultures maintained with our culture. It is our history,” he said.

The dinner event was attended by Mr Davutoglu’s spouse, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, Minister of Justice Bekir Bogdagh and Minister of Family and Social Policy Aysenur Islam.