Global Insight
May 11, 2012
Turkish PM Calls for New Era in Relations with France
BYLINE: Carina O’Reilly
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdo an yesterday called for a
“new era” in his country’s relationship with France in a
congratulatory phone call to new French president-elect Francois
Hollande. Erdo an said he hoped that the two countries’ relationship
would from now on be “free from artificial questions”. Turkey’s
relationship with France has been damaged in recent years by the
strong opposition of outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy to Turkey’s
potential accession to the EU. Tensions grew further when French
legislators passed a bill outlawing the denial of the “Armenian
genocide” which saw hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians killed
in 1915. Turkey denies that the events amounted to genocide, arguing
that millions of people of all ethnicities were killed in the
upheaval. The bill was overturned by the French Constitutional Court
in February. Turkey has now said that it could consider lifting the
sanctions it has imposed on France, which included suspending
political and military co-operation with France and recalling its
ambassador, depending upon what stance Hollande takes on the genocide
issue (see France – Turkey – Armenia: 23 December 2011: ).
Significance:During the campaign, Hollande remained non-committal over
whether he would pursue the issue of the genocide law. With 400,000
Armenians living in France, it might be tempting to follow a populist
option. However, France is also the second largest destination for
expatriate Turks, who now outnumber Armenians according to recent
estimates, and Hollande may in any case prefer to distance himself
from Sarkozy’s somewhat naked bid for the anti-Muslim vote. As such,
bilateral relations between the two countries are set to improve,
though whether Hollande’s election will make a tangible difference to
Turkey’s attitude towards the EU as a whole remains to be seen.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
Direct link to this article: https://www.armenianclub.com/2012/05/12/turkish-pm-calls-for-new-era-in-relations-with-france/
