FRENCH SOCIALISTS SHARE CHIRAC LINE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Agence France Presse — English
October 1, 2006 Sunday

A leading French Socialist who hopes to run for the presidency said
Sunday his party shared President Jacques Chirac’s view that Turkey
should acknowledge genocide of the Armenians before it can join the
European Union.

Speaking during a visit to Yerevan, capital of Armenia, on Friday,
Chirac said Turkey ought to recognize the killing of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians during World War I as genocide if it wants to
join the EU.

"This is also the position of the Socialist Party," said former
finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a contender for selection as
the Socialist candidate for next year’s French presidential election.

Turkey strongly denies responsibility for genocide, arguing that
300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in an internal
conflict sparked by attempts by Armenians to win independence in
eastern Anatolia.

"We have considered that acknowledgment … of the Armenian genocide
should be made a condition of Turkey’s entry into the EU," Strauss-Kahn
said on television.

"There are plenty of other conditions, but this one is symbolic,"
he stressed.

France, with 400,000 citizens of Armenian descent, officially
recognized the events as genocide in 2001, putting a strain on
relations with Turkey.

Previously, however, France had refused to make a direct link between
the genocide issue and Turkey’s EU membership bid. The bloc of 25
nations has not made it a condition.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress