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French politician regrets new vote on Armenian "genocide"

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  • French politician regrets new vote on Armenian "genocide"

    French politician regrets new vote on Armenian "genocide"

    Agence France Presse -- English
    October 6, 2006 Friday 3:55 PM GMT

    The head of the ruling UMP party bloc in France's National Assembly,
    Bernard Accoyer, said Friday he regretted a new attempt by the
    opposition socialists to vote through a bill making it a punishable
    offence to deny the Armenian "genocide".

    Debate on the bill -- which was originally tabled in May -- is due
    to take place on Thursday, despite protests from Ankara that it will
    have a damaging effect on Franco-Turkish relations.

    "The president of the Republic already reminded everyone when he was
    in Armenia that France recognises officially the Armenian genocide and
    is working for a better understanding between states in the region,"
    Accoyer told AFP.

    "As president of the UMP group, I regret that the Socialist party
    (PS) bloc thought it useful to try once again to get parliament to
    legislate on history," he said.

    The Socialist bill would make it punishable by up to five years in
    prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (57,000 dollars) to deny that Turkish
    troops committed genocide against the Armenians between 1915 and 1917.

    A 2001 French law officially recognises the massacres of Armenians
    as genocide.

    Armenians claim up to 1.5 million were slaughtered in orchestrated
    killings between 1915 and 1917 by Turks, as the Ottoman Empire was
    falling apart.

    Turkey rejects the claims, saying 300,000 Armenians and at least as
    many Turks died in civil strife when the Armenians took up arms for
    independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian
    troops.

    The Socialist party controls fewer than a third of seats in the
    National Assembly. However the ruling Union for a Popular Movement has
    promised a free vote, and some if its members also support the bill.

    Last week in Yerevan, President Jacques Chirac said Turkey should
    recognise the Armenian genocide as a condition for joining the EU.

    However, he also said the opposition bill was "deliberately
    controversial."

    May's debate on the bill followed stern warnings from Ankara on the
    repercussions for bilateral relations, and broke up in uproar when
    it ran out of parliamentary time.

    On Friday Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan warned again
    that a positive vote could jeopardise "investments, the fruit of
    years of work, and France will -- so to speak -- lose Turkey."
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