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ISTANBUL: Ankara Retains Hope For Nixing French Bill

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  • ISTANBUL: Ankara Retains Hope For Nixing French Bill

    ANKARA RETAINS HOPE FOR NIXING FRENCH BILL

    Hurriyet Daily News
    Jan 31 2012
    Turkey

    There are positive developments on collecting the 60 signatures
    required to challenge France's "genocide" denial law, a Turkish
    politician said, although the sufficient number had not yet been
    reached.

    "There are positive developments on the issue of signatures, but all
    is not clear yet," said Omer Celik, deputy chairman of the Justice
    and Development Party (AKP), speaking in a TV broadcast yesterday.

    Turkey is currently waiting for the conclusion of the legal process
    in France. If the law is adopted Ankara will implement ready-prepared
    sanctions against France, Celik said.

    On the other hand, the European Union has expressed hope on
    reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia despite the current
    Franco-Turkish spat.

    "The EU supports good neighborly relations between states. We hope
    Turkey and Armenia pass over these difficulties," Jean-Maurice Ripert,
    new head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey, told reporters
    after meeting with Turkey's EU Minister Egemen BagıÅ~_ yesterday.

    Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said last week he was disappointed
    by the silence of the European Union on the matter. If any candidate
    country to the EU had implemented such a law, the union would have
    raised the issue, included it in its progress reports, and made its
    removal a precondition of entry, he said, adding that Turkey expected
    the EU to impose sanctions on France.

    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also claimed Turkey was keeping
    up its efforts for the French senators who objected to the denial
    law to apply to the Constitutional Council.

    The law passed by the French Senate criminalizes denial of Armenian
    genocide allegations.

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