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TURKEY WARNS FRANCE ON RESOLUTION OVER 1915 INCIDENT OF ARMENIA
Xinhua General News Service
December 19, 2011 Monday 11:40 AM EST
China
Turkey will not attend the Joint Economic Committee meeting to be held
in France earlier next year if French legislature makes it crime to
deny Armenians died in 1915 were victims of genocide, Turkish Economy
Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Monday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is not acting reasonably, Caglayan
was quoted by the semi-official Anatolian news agency as saying.
The minister said Sarkozy should stop wasting his time over this matter
and warned that French businessmen's interests would be affected if
the two countries' economic relations were harmed.
Meanwhile, a Turkish parliamentary delegation is holding talks with
French officials in the French capital of Paris to convince them
not to adopt the resolution criminalizing any denial to Armenia's
allegation over the matter.
The general assembly of the French parliament is expected to vote on
the resolution the coming Thursday.
In January 2001, the French parliament adopted a bill recognizing
the so-called Armenian genocide in 1915.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or economic ties since
Armenia declared independence in 1991. The two countries have been
bogged down in a dispute over the World War I-era deaths of Armenians
under the Ottoman rule. Armenia says the deaths occurred in "genocide,"
while Turkey denies the charge and insists that the Armenians were
victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed before modern Turkey was created.
Turkey and Armenia signed protocols to normalize their relations and
open borders last year, but the pacts need to be approved by both
countries' parliaments before taking effect.
Xinhua General News Service
December 19, 2011 Monday 11:40 AM EST
China
Turkey will not attend the Joint Economic Committee meeting to be held
in France earlier next year if French legislature makes it crime to
deny Armenians died in 1915 were victims of genocide, Turkish Economy
Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Monday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is not acting reasonably, Caglayan
was quoted by the semi-official Anatolian news agency as saying.
The minister said Sarkozy should stop wasting his time over this matter
and warned that French businessmen's interests would be affected if
the two countries' economic relations were harmed.
Meanwhile, a Turkish parliamentary delegation is holding talks with
French officials in the French capital of Paris to convince them
not to adopt the resolution criminalizing any denial to Armenia's
allegation over the matter.
The general assembly of the French parliament is expected to vote on
the resolution the coming Thursday.
In January 2001, the French parliament adopted a bill recognizing
the so-called Armenian genocide in 1915.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or economic ties since
Armenia declared independence in 1991. The two countries have been
bogged down in a dispute over the World War I-era deaths of Armenians
under the Ottoman rule. Armenia says the deaths occurred in "genocide,"
while Turkey denies the charge and insists that the Armenians were
victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed before modern Turkey was created.
Turkey and Armenia signed protocols to normalize their relations and
open borders last year, but the pacts need to be approved by both
countries' parliaments before taking effect.