KOCHARYAN ALSO OPPOSES FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL
By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris
Zaman Online, Turkey
Oct 5 2006
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan reportedly opposes the French draft
law that will penalize the denial of the alleged Armenian genocide.
The Turkish delegation, which recently traveled to Paris to make
contacts regarding the draft to be discussed at the French parliament
on Oct. 12, noted that Kocharyan told French President Jacques Chirac
during his visit to Yerevan that Armenia did not favor the adoption
of the draft. It has been reported that Kocharyan cited the draft
as possibly harmful to Armenia’s relations with Turkey. Meanwhile,
the delegation returned to Ankara with no hopes of preventing its
adoption by the French parliament.
The delegation, comprising deputies Mehmet Dulger, Onur Oymen,
Sukru Elekdag and Musa Sivacioglu, was unable to meet with the
Socialist Party parliamentarians, who have been pushing for
adoption of the draft. The Socialist politicians abstained from
scheduling an appointment with the Turkish deputies. A small group
of socialist deputies who accepted to meet the delegation cancelled
the appointment. The delegation could meet only with socialist deputy
Jack Lang, who had announced his opposition to the draft, People’s
Majority Alliance’s Assembly Group Chairman Bernard Accoyer, Chairman
of the Assembly Jean Louis Debre and the Chairman of the Parliament
Commission of EU Affairs Lequiller. Stating that the politicians
the delegation met with stressed their opposition to the draft, the
deputies in the delegation also observed that the draft was regarded
as an election ploy.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy will reportedly take
care of the situation following a phone call from Turkish PM Erdogan.
To this end, Sarkozy is expected to address a letter to Prime Minister
Erdogan. Elysee Palace, however, informed the Turkish Embassy in
Paris that there was no change in the position of Chirac, who had
urged Turkey to recognize the alleged Armenian genocide during his
visit to Armenia.