Tweet
Press TV, Iran
July 6 2012
Ankara restores relations with Paris, revoking sanctions
Ankara has decided to restore diplomatic and economic relations with
Paris following the new French government's decision to end its
efforts to pass a bill to criminalize denial of Armenians genocide,
Press TV reports.
During a meeting in Paris on Thursday, foreign ministers of the two
countries (Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey and Laurent Fabius of France)
agreed to improve the strained relations between the two countries
over the Armenian genocide bill.
Following the meeting with his French counterpart, Turkish foreign
minister said: `as a result of the few difficulties which we
experienced in the past, Turkey took a series of measures against
France, but I would like to announce that these measures have been
completely removed.'
Former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy had previously proposed a
bill to the French parliament to criminalize denial of the Armenians
genocide by the Ottoman Empire, the modern-day Turkey, during the
World War I, in a bid to garner the vote of the Armenian population of
the country during the Presidential elections.
However, the proposal which had caused widespread protests across
Turkey and infuriated the Turkish establishment, was ultimately
declared illegal by the French Constitutional Court.
France had accused Turkey, and its forerunner the Ottoman Empire, of
committing genocide against the Armenian population of the country
during the last days of the Ottoman Empire before it collapsed in
1915, an accusation Turkey has always strongly denied.
Turkey has always resisted the term `genocide' being applied to the
mass killing of the Armenian minority, arguing that they were not
specifically targeted and thus the mass killings cannot properly
constitute a genocide.
At the meeting, Fabius hailed `a new period of relations on every
level' between the two countries.
In response to a question about Turkey's adhesion issue, Fabius
implied that such a decision will require a referendum, adding `at the
end of the day things will come down to the decision of the people,'
However, on the other hand, President Hollande had previously stated
that he did not foresee Turkey's acceptance into the EU bloc during
the next five years.
RM/MY/JR
July 6 2012
Ankara restores relations with Paris, revoking sanctions
Ankara has decided to restore diplomatic and economic relations with
Paris following the new French government's decision to end its
efforts to pass a bill to criminalize denial of Armenians genocide,
Press TV reports.
During a meeting in Paris on Thursday, foreign ministers of the two
countries (Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey and Laurent Fabius of France)
agreed to improve the strained relations between the two countries
over the Armenian genocide bill.
Following the meeting with his French counterpart, Turkish foreign
minister said: `as a result of the few difficulties which we
experienced in the past, Turkey took a series of measures against
France, but I would like to announce that these measures have been
completely removed.'
Former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy had previously proposed a
bill to the French parliament to criminalize denial of the Armenians
genocide by the Ottoman Empire, the modern-day Turkey, during the
World War I, in a bid to garner the vote of the Armenian population of
the country during the Presidential elections.
However, the proposal which had caused widespread protests across
Turkey and infuriated the Turkish establishment, was ultimately
declared illegal by the French Constitutional Court.
France had accused Turkey, and its forerunner the Ottoman Empire, of
committing genocide against the Armenian population of the country
during the last days of the Ottoman Empire before it collapsed in
1915, an accusation Turkey has always strongly denied.
Turkey has always resisted the term `genocide' being applied to the
mass killing of the Armenian minority, arguing that they were not
specifically targeted and thus the mass killings cannot properly
constitute a genocide.
At the meeting, Fabius hailed `a new period of relations on every
level' between the two countries.
In response to a question about Turkey's adhesion issue, Fabius
implied that such a decision will require a referendum, adding `at the
end of the day things will come down to the decision of the people,'
However, on the other hand, President Hollande had previously stated
that he did not foresee Turkey's acceptance into the EU bloc during
the next five years.
RM/MY/JR