Deutsche Presse-Agentur
December 14, 2004, Tuesday
09:44:00 Central European Time

French not to press Turkey on admitting Armenian genocide

Paris

Turkish acknowledgment of genocide against the Armenian people during
World War I will not be a prerequisite for starting negotiations for
Ankara’s admission in the European Union, French Foreign Minister
Michel Barnier said Tuesday.

“This is not a condition posed by France, especially not a condition
for opening negotiations (with the E.U.),” Barnier told France 2
television. “Legally, this would not be possible.”

France’s sizeable Armenian community has been pressuring the French
government to force Ankara into acknowledging its responsibility in
the deaths of more than 1 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917,
which Turkey has steadfastly refused to do.

However, Barnier said this “is a question, a question we will ask
during the negotiations, and we have a dozen years to ask it”.