FRANCE'S STANCE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE UNCHANGED, HOLLANDE SAYS IN TURKEY
00:06 28.01.2014
Armenian Genocide, Francois Hollande, Turkey
On a visit to Turkey French President Francois Hollande has made
it clear that France's fundamental stance on the Armenian genocide
was unchanged.
At a joint prss conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul
both sides stuck to their positions in a row over France's official
recognition of a genocide by Ottoman Turks of Armenians in World War
I - something Turkey contests, AFP reports.
An attempt by French lawmakers in 2011 to declare it a crime to deny
the genocide was struck down in February last year.
But Hollande made it clear that France's fundamental stance was
unchanged.
"Uncovering history is always painful, but must be done," he said.
Gul for his part said that "woes of 100 years ago are our common
woes.... It is not right to pass these woes from generation to
generation."
"What should be done, instead of reviving these woes, is to leave these
to historians. This issue can not be tackled unilaterally," he said.
Hollande also touched on the need for "intense joint work" on the
issue on the eve of the centennial anniversary of the 1915 events,
the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
French president did not give a sign of renewing attempts to ban the
denial of the genocide, but underlined that they would be "whatever
the laws stipulated," referring France's recognition of the mass
killings of Armenians as genocide in 2000.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/01/28/frances-stance-on-armenian-genocide-unchanged-hollande-says-in-turkey/
From: A. Papazian
00:06 28.01.2014
Armenian Genocide, Francois Hollande, Turkey
On a visit to Turkey French President Francois Hollande has made
it clear that France's fundamental stance on the Armenian genocide
was unchanged.
At a joint prss conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gul
both sides stuck to their positions in a row over France's official
recognition of a genocide by Ottoman Turks of Armenians in World War
I - something Turkey contests, AFP reports.
An attempt by French lawmakers in 2011 to declare it a crime to deny
the genocide was struck down in February last year.
But Hollande made it clear that France's fundamental stance was
unchanged.
"Uncovering history is always painful, but must be done," he said.
Gul for his part said that "woes of 100 years ago are our common
woes.... It is not right to pass these woes from generation to
generation."
"What should be done, instead of reviving these woes, is to leave these
to historians. This issue can not be tackled unilaterally," he said.
Hollande also touched on the need for "intense joint work" on the
issue on the eve of the centennial anniversary of the 1915 events,
the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
French president did not give a sign of renewing attempts to ban the
denial of the genocide, but underlined that they would be "whatever
the laws stipulated," referring France's recognition of the mass
killings of Armenians as genocide in 2000.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/01/28/frances-stance-on-armenian-genocide-unchanged-hollande-says-in-turkey/
From: A. Papazian