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ANKARA: French FM back off from Armenian statement

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  • ANKARA: French FM back off from Armenian statement

    NTV MSNBC, Turkey
    Dec 14 2004

    French FM back off from Armenian statement

    Turkey has always rejected claims that the Ottomans carried out a
    policy of genocide against it Armenian citizens.

    December 14 - France's Foreign Minister has backed away from his
    statement that Turkey had to acknowledge the so called Armenian
    genocide as one of the conditions for it to join the European Union.

    Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Tuesday that it was not
    France's position that Ankara had to acknowledge the allegations of
    committing genocide against the Ottoman empire's Armenian community
    during the years of World War One. His comments were in contrast to a
    statement made Monday that Turkey had to accept responsibility for
    the events of ninety years ago in order to start accession
    negotiations with the EU.
    `France does not pose it as a condition, notably not for
    opening negotiations,' Barnier said on French television. `Legally,
    that would not be possible.'
    Turkey has always strenuously denied that any deliberate
    massacre of Armenians occurred, though does acknowledge that many
    thousands of Armenian and Turkish Ottoman citizens died during the
    turmoil of the war in the east of Turkey.
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