France Urges Ankara to Admit 1915 Genocide

OCTOBER 8, 2011.
Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia – French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Turkey to
recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a
genocide, in remarks Friday that drew sharp criticism from Ankara.

“Turkey, which is a great country, would honor itself by revisiting
its history like other countries in the world have done,” Mr. Sarkozy
said during his visit to the Armenian capital.

The killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire
has been the main barrier to the ex-Soviet republic’s reconciliation
with Turkey. Armenians have long fought to persuade other governments
to call the killings a genocide.

Turkish leaders have rejected the term, contending the figures are
inflated and saying there were many deaths on both sides as the
Ottoman Empire collapsed during World War I.

Mr. Sarkozy also hinted that Turkey’s refusal to recognize the
genocide would force France to change its law and make such denials a
criminal offense. “If Turkey does not do this, then doubtless we will
have to go further,” he said. without elaborating.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the French
president’s comments as “political opportunism” aimed at gaining votes
from French-Armenians at elections. “Unfortunately whenever there are
elections in Europe, this type of opportunism arises,” Mr. Davutoglu
he said.

He added France had no right to criticize Turkey because of the
country’s colonial past.

The French Parliament officially recognized the killings as a genocide
in 2001, one of several moves that strained ties between Paris and
Ankara. Turkey, however, remains one of France’s major trading
partners outside the European Union.

In 2004, then-President Jacques Chirac told Turkey it would have to
recognize the mass killings as genocide if it wanted to become a
member of the EU, insisting the French would otherwise vote Turkey out
in a referendum.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations.

– Associated Press
In addition to tensions over the mass killings, efforts to normalize
ties also have been thrown back by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a
separatist region in neighboring Azerbaijan.

Since then, talks to resolve one of the most worrisome “frozen
conflicts” in the former Soviet Union have dragged on with the enclave
controlled by Armenian and separatist forces.

Impoverished, landlocked and mostly Christian, Armenia has been hurt
economically by Turkey’s closing of the border in 1993 in support of
Azerbaijan.

Mr. Sarkozy called on his Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkisian to seek
a peaceful way of ending the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, and said
Paris will continue to lend political support to Armenia. “Peace in
the region is extremely important for both sides,” he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress