TURKEY HOPES FRANCE WILL NOT CRIMINALIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL

Anatolia news agency
10 May 06

Ankara, 10 May: “Turkey wishes the French legislators not to approve
a draft law which would make ‘the denial’ of the so-called Armenian
genocide a crime,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said
on Wednesday [10 May].

Responding to a question at a weekly news conference, Tan said French
administration was sensitive on this issue, stating that the issue
required a process in which calm reactions should be given.

“It should not be the desire of anybody to cause uneasiness in
a climate in which our rooted relations were being improved,”
he remarked.

Asked about Turkey’s reaction against the remarks of Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper describing baseless Armenian allegations
as “genocide”, Tan said: “There has been assessment process in our
ministry to determine the steps that would be taken on this issue. We
carry out necessary consultations with other related institutions.”