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ANKARA: Turkey Mulls Inviting France To Syria Summit: Diplomat

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  • ANKARA: Turkey Mulls Inviting France To Syria Summit: Diplomat

    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.

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