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HOLLANDE VISIT AIMS TO REPAIR ROCKY RELATIONS WITH TURKEY
EuroNews - English Version
January 27, 2014 Monday
French President Francois Hollande, on a two day visit to Turkey, is
hoping to improve the often prickly relations between Paris and Ankara.
Hollande attended a ceremony at the mausoleum to Turkey's founder,
Kemal Ataturk.
The euronews reporter on the ground says that Ankara is hoping that
this first visit by a French president in two decades will remove
obstacles to EU entry.
In return France wants Turkey to remove trade barriers erected after
French attempts to outlaw the denial of the Armenian genocide.
At a press conference Hollande spoke of the challenge a country faces
when it wrestles with its past.
"The task of remembering is always painful, but it must be done,"
he said. "What we have to work for is reconciliation by looking for
what happened and by recognising what happened."
Turkish President Abdullah Gul took a different position, recommending
that they not relive the suffering of a hundred years ago.
"In this case what needs to be done," he said, "is leave it to
historians".
Trade barriers will occupy the next leg of Holland's trip. In Istanbul
he will attend a forum for French and Turkish business leaders.
EuroNews - English Version
January 27, 2014 Monday
French President Francois Hollande, on a two day visit to Turkey, is
hoping to improve the often prickly relations between Paris and Ankara.
Hollande attended a ceremony at the mausoleum to Turkey's founder,
Kemal Ataturk.
The euronews reporter on the ground says that Ankara is hoping that
this first visit by a French president in two decades will remove
obstacles to EU entry.
In return France wants Turkey to remove trade barriers erected after
French attempts to outlaw the denial of the Armenian genocide.
At a press conference Hollande spoke of the challenge a country faces
when it wrestles with its past.
"The task of remembering is always painful, but it must be done,"
he said. "What we have to work for is reconciliation by looking for
what happened and by recognising what happened."
Turkish President Abdullah Gul took a different position, recommending
that they not relive the suffering of a hundred years ago.
"In this case what needs to be done," he said, "is leave it to
historians".
Trade barriers will occupy the next leg of Holland's trip. In Istanbul
he will attend a forum for French and Turkish business leaders.