FRENCH MP ON TURKEY BECOMING EU MEMBER
YEREVAN, November 6 (RIA Novosti’s Gamlet Matevosyan) — Chairman of
the Armenian-French Friendship Group at the National Assembly of
France Francois Rochebloin believes that Turkey cannot become a member
of the European Union until it admits its responsibility for the
genocide against Armenians in 1915 during the Ottoman Empire rule. The
French deputy made this statement during a meeting with Speaker of the
Armenian Parliament Artur Bagdasaryan.
According to the public relations department of the Armenian National
Assembly, Mr. Rochebloin has also emphasized the necessity to lift the
Turkish blockade of Armenia because, in his opinion, it affects
negatively the economic development of the republic.
Both sides touched upon issues of the strengthening of
interparliamentary ties between the two countries, cooperation between
delegations of Armenia and France at PACE, and the perspectives of
French-Armenian relations.
Armenia and Turkey have not established diplomatic relations, yet. The
major obstacle is the refusal of Turkey to recognize the genocide
campaign against Armenians in 1915 during the Ottoman Empire rule.
The Armenian community in France is one of the largest in the
world. It numbers about 300,000 people. Armenian diasporas popped up
in various regions of the world after the 1915 tragedy. Other large
Armenian communities are in Russia (according to some estimates – a
million people), in the United States (about 600,000 people) and in
Iran (about 250,000 people).