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ALIYEV TO VISIT FRANCE AS TENSION CONTINUES
Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 18 2012
Turkey
Azerbaijan's President İlham Aliyev will travel to France today, as
a group mostly consisting of members of the French-Armenian diaspora
prepares to protest his visit.
Aliyev will attend the opening ceremony of the Islamic Arts Hall at
the Louvre Museum, and then meet France's President Francois Hollande
at the Elysee Presidential Palace. His visit comes at a time of high
tension between Yerevan and Baku, due to the latter's pardoning and
promotion of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri officer who murdered an Armenian
counterpart at a NATO event in 2004.
'Safarov case' on the agenda
Hollande will bring the issue of Safarov's release to the agenda
during his meeting with Aliyev, said Franck Mourad Papazian, a
prominent figure in the French-Armenian diaspora and a member of the
Dashnaksutyun Party, in a telephone interview with Hurriyet Daily News.
The protest of Aliyev's visit is intended as call for a justice
addressed to the entire world, Papzian said. "Aliyev's government
pardoned and promoted Safarov, who killed Gurgen Margaryan just
because he was an Armenian. Forgiving a murderer means ignoring and
violating international law," Papazian said. More than 6,000 people
all over France are expected to attend the protests.
With regard to the French draft law concerning denial of the alleged
Armenian genocide, which had caused tension between Turkey and France,
Papazian said the Hollande government will revive the law, and that
negotiations to schedule this were ongoing.
Vercihan Ziflioglu contributed to this report from the Istanbul bureau.
Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 18 2012
Turkey
Azerbaijan's President İlham Aliyev will travel to France today, as
a group mostly consisting of members of the French-Armenian diaspora
prepares to protest his visit.
Aliyev will attend the opening ceremony of the Islamic Arts Hall at
the Louvre Museum, and then meet France's President Francois Hollande
at the Elysee Presidential Palace. His visit comes at a time of high
tension between Yerevan and Baku, due to the latter's pardoning and
promotion of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri officer who murdered an Armenian
counterpart at a NATO event in 2004.
'Safarov case' on the agenda
Hollande will bring the issue of Safarov's release to the agenda
during his meeting with Aliyev, said Franck Mourad Papazian, a
prominent figure in the French-Armenian diaspora and a member of the
Dashnaksutyun Party, in a telephone interview with Hurriyet Daily News.
The protest of Aliyev's visit is intended as call for a justice
addressed to the entire world, Papzian said. "Aliyev's government
pardoned and promoted Safarov, who killed Gurgen Margaryan just
because he was an Armenian. Forgiving a murderer means ignoring and
violating international law," Papazian said. More than 6,000 people
all over France are expected to attend the protests.
With regard to the French draft law concerning denial of the alleged
Armenian genocide, which had caused tension between Turkey and France,
Papazian said the Hollande government will revive the law, and that
negotiations to schedule this were ongoing.
Vercihan Ziflioglu contributed to this report from the Istanbul bureau.