ISTANBUL (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he had no immediate plans to expel illegal Armenian workers after his threat to do so sparked a barrage of criticism at home and abroad.

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Erdogan however urged Western countries to stop branding the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as "genocide," slamming such moves as attempts to "tarnish" Turkey's honour and "meddle" in its ties with Armenia.

The Turkish media and rights groups accused Erdogan of treating illegal Armenians as a pawn in Ankara's protests after his threat earlier this week to deport thousands of impoverished Armenians working illegally in Turkey.

But Erdogan said his remarks were aimed "at drawing the world's attention to our tolerant approach towards those people" and did not mean that "we will take such a step immediately."

"What I am saying is that those who pass these baseless (genocide) resolutions... should see the humanitarian perspective from which we look at the problem... They should not meddle in our ties with our neighbours," Erdogan told a gathering of Turkish artists.

"We are not speaking about citizens or immigrants or refugees. Still, we have shown good will. We have displayed tolerance towards some needy people... and we will continue to do so," he said.

But "we cannot stay silent when some people take actions to tarnish the honour of Turkey and the Turkish people, while we are displaying all kind of good will and tolerance," he added.

Erdogan blamed the "genocide" resolutions on the influential Armenian diaspora in the West and "those who use them."

Earlier this month, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a non-binding resolution branding the World War I massacres a genocide, and Sweden's parliament followed suit last week, infuriating Ankara.

In an interview with the BBC Turkish service Tuesday, Erdogan threatened to expel illegal Armenian workers if foreign parliaments continued to pass such resolutions, prompting a condemnation from Yerevan and harsh domestic criticism that his remarks damaged already troubled peace efforts with Armenia.

Erdogan put the number of illegal Armenians in Turkey at 100,000.

Researchers however say that the Turkish authorities tend to inflate the figures to put pressure on Armenia, estimating the number between 10,000 to 20,000.

Following Swiss-brokered talks to end decades of enmity, Turkey and Armenia signed a deal in October to establish diplomatic ties and open their border. But the process has already hit snags, with both sides accusing the other of lacking commitment to the deal.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed in systematic massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

Turkey counters that between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks perished in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.

Several other countries, notably France, have also recognised the killings as genocide.