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France Urges Ankara to Admit 1915 Genocide .

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  • France Urges Ankara to Admit 1915 Genocide .

    Wall Street Journal
    Oct 8 2011


    France Urges Ankara to Admit 1915 Genocide .


    YEREVAN, Armenia - French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Turkey to
    recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a
    genocide, in remarks Friday that drew sharp criticism from Ankara.

    "Turkey, which is a great country, would honor itself by revisiting
    its history like other countries in the world have done," Mr. Sarkozy
    said during his visit to the Armenian capital.

    The killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire
    has been the main barrier to the ex-Soviet republic's reconciliation
    with Turkey. Armenians have long fought to persuade other governments
    to call the killings a genocide.

    Turkish leaders have rejected the term, contending the figures are
    inflated and saying there were many deaths on both sides as the
    Ottoman Empire collapsed during World War I.

    Mr. Sarkozy also hinted that Turkey's refusal to recognize the
    genocide would force France to change its law and make such denials a
    criminal offense. "If Turkey does not do this, then doubtless we will
    have to go further," he said. without elaborating.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the French
    president's comments as "political opportunism" aimed at gaining votes
    from French-Armenians at elections. "Unfortunately whenever there are
    elections in Europe, this type of opportunism arises," Mr. Davutoglu
    he said.

    He added France had no right to criticize Turkey because of the
    country's colonial past.

    The French Parliament officially recognized the killings as a genocide
    in 2001, one of several moves that strained ties between Paris and
    Ankara. Turkey, however, remains one of France's major trading
    partners outside the European Union.

    In 2004, then-President Jacques Chirac told Turkey it would have to
    recognize the mass killings as genocide if it wanted to become a
    member of the EU, insisting the French would otherwise vote Turkey out
    in a referendum.

    Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations.

    - Associated Press
    In addition to tensions over the mass killings, efforts to normalize
    ties also have been thrown back by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a
    separatist region in neighboring Azerbaijan.

    Since then, talks to resolve one of the most worrisome "frozen
    conflicts" in the former Soviet Union have dragged on with the enclave
    controlled by Armenian and separatist forces.

    Impoverished, landlocked and mostly Christian, Armenia has been hurt
    economically by Turkey's closing of the border in 1993 in support of
    Azerbaijan.

    Mr. Sarkozy called on his Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkisian to seek
    a peaceful way of ending the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, and said
    Paris will continue to lend political support to Armenia. "Peace in
    the region is extremely important for both sides," he said.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203388804576617104003164690.html

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