ARF CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF FRANCE CALLS ON SARKOZY TO CONDEMN PROPOSAL FOR GENOCIDE COMMISSION
armradio.am
22.11.2011 12:17
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee of France
issued a statement calling on President Nicolas Sarkozy to condemn his
foreign minister’s proposal to establish a commission that would study
the Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reports referring to Nouvelles Armenie.
Speaking during a press conference last week in Turkey, French Foreign
Minister Alain Juppe called the period of the Armenian Genocide hard
for both Armenians and Turks and expressed France’s willingness for
the establishment of a commission to study the Armenian Genocide.
While visiting Armenia last month, Sarkozy, in no uncertain terms
called on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide. He added that
if Turkey did not come to terms with its past, other countries would
have to step in to right the historical wrong.
The statement of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central
Committee of France reads: “The ARF learned of the intention
expressed by Alain Juppe to set up a commission of Armenian and
Turkish historians in France to study the period in the history
regarding the Armenian Genocide.
ARF is furious at the Foreign Minister for his remarks, which
potentially cast doubt on the veracity of the Armenian Genocide. Such
statements are not acceptable. They contain hints of policy of denial.
Statements by Alain Juppe significantly minimize the words of
[President] Nicolas Sarkozy, who called on Turkey to recognize the
Armenian Genocide.
The French government can not simultaneously call on Turkey to
recognize the Armenian Genocide and propose a commission of historians
which must decide on the reality of the Armenian Genocide.
This is an intolerable contradiction by the French authorities,
who apparently decided to play a game of double standards of truth
and denial. This impression is further reinforced by the fact that
when Nicolas Sarkozy was in Armenia, [France’s Interior Minister]
Claude Gueant was hastily dispatched to Turkey.
We can not bear this duplicity and ask Sarkozy to express open
disapproval of the position of Alain Juppe, contrary to President’s
statements made in Yerevan. The Armenian community is angered and
looks forward to decisive action by the President of the Republic.
Inclusion of the bill criminalizing denial of Armenian Genocide in
the Senate’s agenda is urgent. Nicolas Sarkozy promised to do so in
Yerevan, let him keep his promise.”