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Turkey 'must admit WWI genocide'; Turkey must improve HR record

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  • Turkey 'must admit WWI genocide'; Turkey must improve HR record

    Turkey 'must admit WWI genocide'

    France has said Turkey must improve its human rights record

    BBC News
    Monday, 13 December, 2004

    France has said it will ask Turkey to acknowledge the mass killing of
    Armenians from 1915 as genocide when it begins EU accession talks.
    French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Turkey had "a duty to
    remember".

    Armenians say 1.5 million of their people died or were deported from
    their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule. France is among a group of
    nations that class the killings as genocide. Turkey denies any organised
    genocide, claiming they were quelling a civil uprising.

    Mr Barnier said France did not consider Turkish acknowledgement a
    condition of EU entry, but insisted his country would raise the issue
    once talks opened.

    Where Turkey's bid stands

    Speaking to reporters after a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss
    plans to invite Turkey for accession talks, Mr Barnier said Turkey "must
    carry out this task as a memorial".

    In addition, France believes that accession talks should not begin
    before the second half of 2005, Mr Barnier said. Turkey has pushed for
    immediate negotiations.

    "I believe that when the time comes, Turkey should come to terms with
    its past, be reconciled with its own history and recognise this
    tragedy," Mr Barnier said.

    'So-called genocide'

    His comments drew no immediate official response from Turkey, which has
    consistently denied orchestrating genocide and the Armenian figures. A
    foreign ministry spokesman in the Turkish capital, Ankara, told Reuters
    that Turkey has never and will never recognise "any so-called genocide".

    Armenia alleges that the Young Turks, in 1915 the dominant party in the
    Ottoman Empire, systematically arranged the deportation and killing of
    1.5 million Armenians. Turkish relations with independent Armenia, which
    borders Turkey to the north, have long been coloured by the issue.

    Around 300,000 Armenians live in France, more than in any other European
    country, and community leaders have pledged to pressure French President
    Jacques Chirac on the genocide issue during Turkish accession negotiations.

    France passed a law officially recognising the Armenian genocide in
    2001, cooling relations with Turkey and scuppering a major arms deal.

    Another 14 nations, including Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, also
    classify the killings as genocide.


    PHOTO CAPTION: "France will pose this question. I think that a big
    country like Turkey has a duty to remember" -- Michel Barnier, French
    foreign minister

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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