French president’s statements slap in Turkey’s face – Armenian expert

14:01 * 30.01.14

Two statements by French President François Hollande in Turkey can be
viewed as France’s slap in Turkey’s face, expert in Turkic studies
Andranik Ispiryan told reporters on Thursday.

He pointed out two things that could be expected in the context of the
French president’s visit to Turkey.

“First, a thaw in French-Turkish relations, attempts to obtain
concessions on the issue of Armenian Genocide and on France’s position
on Turkey’s admission to the European Union (EU). President Hollande
showed the same position as before on both the Armenian Genocide and
Turkey’s admission to the EU. As to the third aspect, the French
president spoke in the spirit of improvement of bilateral relations,”
Ispiryan said.

He highlighted the French president’s statement that the denial of the
Armenian Genocide will be criminalized in France.

“Hollande is the only president that stated, in Turkey and in the
Turkish president’s presence, that the denial of the Armenian Genocide
would be criminalized by law and pointed out the need for Turkey to
admit that fact. He stated that twice, making one of the statements at
a meeting at Galatasaray University,” Ispiryan said.

“Hollande’s stringent policy toward Turkey is not his personal policy,
but that of his predecessors,” he added.

With respect to President Gul’s response, Ispiryan said it was a
desperate call because he had nothing to do but say that it is up to
historians to deal with the problem.

As to expectations about the French president’s upcoming visit to
Azerbaijan, Ispiryan noted that president Hollande should not be
expected to make similar statement concerning Nagorno-Karabakh. He
will act as president of an OSCE Minsk co-chair nation and will try to
be unbiased.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress