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The Globe and Mail (Canada)
October 7, 2011 Friday
Sarkozy presses Turkey to declare Armenian massacre a genocide
by EMMANUEL JARRY, YEREVAN
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a brief trip to the Caucasus,
urged Turkey to recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide,
threatening to pass a law in France that would make denying this a
crime.
Visiting a genocide memorial and museum in Yerevan, Armenia, with
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Mr. Sarkozy challenged Turkey -
which is seeking membership of the European Union - to face up to its
past.
"The Armenian genocide is a historical reality. Collective denial is
even worse than individual denial," Mr. Sarkozy said Thursday.
"Turkey, which is a great country, would honour itself to revisit its
history like other great countries in the world have done."
Armenia was the first stop on a two-day trip to the region by Mr.
Sarkozy, who is keen to raise his profile on the international stage
before an April presidential election. He visits Azerbaijan and
Georgia on Friday.
France is opposed to Turkey's bid for EU membership and his comments
on the sensitive subject are likely to be viewed as unwelcome meddling
by Ankara.
Turkey denies the deaths of Armenians in 1915 was genocide. It says
both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in large numbers as the
Ottoman empire collapsed.
Mr. Sarkozy suggested that the French parliament might consider a law
making denial of the deaths of Armenians as genocide a crime, similar
to the current French law against denial of the Holocaust.
While in the region, Mr. Sarkozy will try to encourage Mr. Sargsyan
and the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to resolve a conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly Armenian-populated enclave in
Azerbaijan.
France plays a leading role in the Minsk Group of countries from the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which is trying
to resolve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian-backed forces wrested Nagorno-Karabakh from Azeri control
after the Soviet Union collapsed. When the conflict ended in a
ceasefire in 1994, 30,000 people had been killed and about one million
had been driven from their homes.
During a three-hour visit to Georgia, Mr. Sarkozy will also urge
Georgia to improve relations with Russia, reviving memories of his
mediating role when the two countries went to war in 2008.
Mr. Sarkozy's success in brokering a ceasefire in that conflict
guarantees a warm welcome in the capital Tbilisi, where he will meet
President Mikheil Saakashvili and address a crowd in the central
Freedom Square.
Mr. Sarkozy will urge Mr. Saakashvili to look beyond the countries'
differences, including over how they interpret the ceasefire terms,
and rebuild trust in relations with Moscow.
Each side accuses the other of acting provocatively and sabotaging
relations. Moscow has angered Tbilisi by recognizing breakaway
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent regions.
It was not clear whether Mr. Sarkozy would discuss Russia's bid to
join the World Trade Organization which Georgia, as a member, could
block. Moscow hopes to complete its entry to the 153-member trading
body this year.
Mr. Sarkozy mediated the 2008 ceasefire on behalf of the European
Union as France held the bloc's presidency at the time.
That ended the war over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but Georgia says
Russia has violated the terms by not withdrawing troops to the
positions they held before the war.
October 7, 2011 Friday
Sarkozy presses Turkey to declare Armenian massacre a genocide
by EMMANUEL JARRY, YEREVAN
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a brief trip to the Caucasus,
urged Turkey to recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide,
threatening to pass a law in France that would make denying this a
crime.
Visiting a genocide memorial and museum in Yerevan, Armenia, with
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Mr. Sarkozy challenged Turkey -
which is seeking membership of the European Union - to face up to its
past.
"The Armenian genocide is a historical reality. Collective denial is
even worse than individual denial," Mr. Sarkozy said Thursday.
"Turkey, which is a great country, would honour itself to revisit its
history like other great countries in the world have done."
Armenia was the first stop on a two-day trip to the region by Mr.
Sarkozy, who is keen to raise his profile on the international stage
before an April presidential election. He visits Azerbaijan and
Georgia on Friday.
France is opposed to Turkey's bid for EU membership and his comments
on the sensitive subject are likely to be viewed as unwelcome meddling
by Ankara.
Turkey denies the deaths of Armenians in 1915 was genocide. It says
both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in large numbers as the
Ottoman empire collapsed.
Mr. Sarkozy suggested that the French parliament might consider a law
making denial of the deaths of Armenians as genocide a crime, similar
to the current French law against denial of the Holocaust.
While in the region, Mr. Sarkozy will try to encourage Mr. Sargsyan
and the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to resolve a conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly Armenian-populated enclave in
Azerbaijan.
France plays a leading role in the Minsk Group of countries from the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which is trying
to resolve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian-backed forces wrested Nagorno-Karabakh from Azeri control
after the Soviet Union collapsed. When the conflict ended in a
ceasefire in 1994, 30,000 people had been killed and about one million
had been driven from their homes.
During a three-hour visit to Georgia, Mr. Sarkozy will also urge
Georgia to improve relations with Russia, reviving memories of his
mediating role when the two countries went to war in 2008.
Mr. Sarkozy's success in brokering a ceasefire in that conflict
guarantees a warm welcome in the capital Tbilisi, where he will meet
President Mikheil Saakashvili and address a crowd in the central
Freedom Square.
Mr. Sarkozy will urge Mr. Saakashvili to look beyond the countries'
differences, including over how they interpret the ceasefire terms,
and rebuild trust in relations with Moscow.
Each side accuses the other of acting provocatively and sabotaging
relations. Moscow has angered Tbilisi by recognizing breakaway
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent regions.
It was not clear whether Mr. Sarkozy would discuss Russia's bid to
join the World Trade Organization which Georgia, as a member, could
block. Moscow hopes to complete its entry to the 153-member trading
body this year.
Mr. Sarkozy mediated the 2008 ceasefire on behalf of the European
Union as France held the bloc's presidency at the time.
That ended the war over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but Georgia says
Russia has violated the terms by not withdrawing troops to the
positions they held before the war.