Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Feb 9 2014
Turkey's retiring ambassador to France thanks community
09 February 2014 13:28 (Last updated 09 February 2014 13:31)
Burcuoglu, who was recalled in late 2011 during tense French-Turkish
relations over the Turkish-Armenian controversy, will retire on
February 14.
PARIS
Turkey's retiring ambassador to France, Tahsin Burcuoglu thanked the
Turkish community on Saturday for its support during France's
temporary criminalization in 2012 - when it denied Armenian
allegations relating to events in 1915.
"Our relations with France were almost at a breaking point in early
2012 [over the Turkish-Armenian controversy]," Ambassador Tahsin
Burcuoglu said at a reception in his honor in Cergy-Pontoise, a town
northwest of Paris.
In December 2011 Turkey recalled Burculoglu for consultations, after
the French parliament passed a law criminalizing the public denial of
Armenia's allegations relating to the events of 1915 during the
Ottoman Empire.
France's then president, Nicolas Sarkozy later signed the law, which
was overturned by France's Constitutional Council on February 28 on
the grounds it was unconstitutional.
Thanking the Turkish community in France and the Turkish government
for their unwavering stance during the tense period, Burcuoglu added:
"I will never forget how we struggled together."
Burcuoglu, who began his term as ambassador on February 1, 2010, will
retire on February 14.
Commenting on how the Turkish community has come a long way since the
1980s, during which he served as an undersecretary in Paris, the
retiring ambassador said: "we had one doctor in the 1970s, and now we
have around 250."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Feb 9 2014
Turkey's retiring ambassador to France thanks community
09 February 2014 13:28 (Last updated 09 February 2014 13:31)
Burcuoglu, who was recalled in late 2011 during tense French-Turkish
relations over the Turkish-Armenian controversy, will retire on
February 14.
PARIS
Turkey's retiring ambassador to France, Tahsin Burcuoglu thanked the
Turkish community on Saturday for its support during France's
temporary criminalization in 2012 - when it denied Armenian
allegations relating to events in 1915.
"Our relations with France were almost at a breaking point in early
2012 [over the Turkish-Armenian controversy]," Ambassador Tahsin
Burcuoglu said at a reception in his honor in Cergy-Pontoise, a town
northwest of Paris.
In December 2011 Turkey recalled Burculoglu for consultations, after
the French parliament passed a law criminalizing the public denial of
Armenia's allegations relating to the events of 1915 during the
Ottoman Empire.
France's then president, Nicolas Sarkozy later signed the law, which
was overturned by France's Constitutional Council on February 28 on
the grounds it was unconstitutional.
Thanking the Turkish community in France and the Turkish government
for their unwavering stance during the tense period, Burcuoglu added:
"I will never forget how we struggled together."
Burcuoglu, who began his term as ambassador on February 1, 2010, will
retire on February 14.
Commenting on how the Turkish community has come a long way since the
1980s, during which he served as an undersecretary in Paris, the
retiring ambassador said: "we had one doctor in the 1970s, and now we
have around 250."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress