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TURKEY MULLS INVITING FRANCE TO SYRIA SUMMIT: DIPLOMAT
Cumhuriyet
March 5 2012
Turkey
Turkey is considering whether to invite France to the next meeting
of the "Friends of Syria" to be held in Istanbul this month as ties
hit a low over a genocide bill, a Turkish diplomat said Monday.
ANKARA- Istanbul will host the second "Friends of Syria" conference
late March after the first meeting in Tunis on February 24.
"We haven't sent any invitation to any country yet but we are
considering whether to invite France," the source told AFP, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
The French parliament passed a law last year making denial that the
Ottoman empire committed genocide against its Armenian population a
criminal offence, infuriating Turkey.
France had already recognised the killings as a genocide, but the new
law sought to go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up
to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).
Last Tuesday, the French Constitutional Council labelled the law
"unconstitutional," but President Nicolas Sarkozy promptly ordered
his government to draft a new bill.
"The ruling of the Constitutional Council is obvious but we don't
know yet what'll happen in the end," said the diplomat, .
Turkey halted political and military cooperation with France over
the law and threatened to cut off economic and cultural ties, but
applauded the Constitutional Council ruling.
The Turkish diplomat said that if it is decided to admit France an
invitation would be sent to Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, not to
Sarkozy, as the conference would be at the ministerial level.
Juppe is known to have opposed the genocide legislation.
"But ultimately this would be a multilateral gathering, not a bilateral
one," said the diplomat, in remarks that could be interpreted as a
green light for Paris's participation.
Cumhuriyet
March 5 2012
Turkey
Turkey is considering whether to invite France to the next meeting
of the "Friends of Syria" to be held in Istanbul this month as ties
hit a low over a genocide bill, a Turkish diplomat said Monday.
ANKARA- Istanbul will host the second "Friends of Syria" conference
late March after the first meeting in Tunis on February 24.
"We haven't sent any invitation to any country yet but we are
considering whether to invite France," the source told AFP, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
The French parliament passed a law last year making denial that the
Ottoman empire committed genocide against its Armenian population a
criminal offence, infuriating Turkey.
France had already recognised the killings as a genocide, but the new
law sought to go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up
to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).
Last Tuesday, the French Constitutional Council labelled the law
"unconstitutional," but President Nicolas Sarkozy promptly ordered
his government to draft a new bill.
"The ruling of the Constitutional Council is obvious but we don't
know yet what'll happen in the end," said the diplomat, .
Turkey halted political and military cooperation with France over
the law and threatened to cut off economic and cultural ties, but
applauded the Constitutional Council ruling.
The Turkish diplomat said that if it is decided to admit France an
invitation would be sent to Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, not to
Sarkozy, as the conference would be at the ministerial level.
Juppe is known to have opposed the genocide legislation.
"But ultimately this would be a multilateral gathering, not a bilateral
one," said the diplomat, in remarks that could be interpreted as a
green light for Paris's participation.