FRANCE URGES TURKEY NOT TO DENY GENOCIDE
>From Times Wire Reports

Los Angeles Times, CA
Oct 1 2006

French President Jacques Chirac urged Turkey to acknowledge the mass
killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.

Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killed from 1915 to 1923 in an organized campaign to force them out
of eastern Turkey.

Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died but says the
overall figure is inflated and that the deaths occurred amid civil
unrest. But the government is facing increasing pressure to fully
acknowledge the killings as it seeks membership in the European Union.

"Should Turkey recognize the genocide of Armenia to join the European
Union?" Chirac asked, echoing a question posed by a reporter in
Yerevan, the Armenian capital. "Honestly, I believe so."