FRENCH BILL IGNORES TURKS, RECOGNISES ARMENIAN CLAIMS AS TRUTH

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 12 2006

* Turkey says ties with France dealt severe blow

Ahmet YONCA (JTW), ANKARA – Ignoring Turkish protests, the French
lower house of parliament approved a bill on Thursday making it a
crime to deny Armenian claims. Defending Turkish approach in France
will be crime if the bill becomes law. The French bill would recognize
the Armenian ‘genocide’ accusation and ignores the Turkish claims,
and rejecting the Armenian position would mean to risk up to a year
in prison and fines of up to $56,000.

"RELATIONS SEVERELY DAMAGED"

The French parliamentary has dealt Turkish-French ties a severe blow,
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Turkey accuses France of
trying to keep Turkey outside of the EU by abusing the Armenian issue.

"French-Turkish relations, which have developed over centuries…

have been dealt a blow today as a result of the irresponsible false
claims of French politicians who do not see the political consequences
of their actions," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry did not say whether Turkey, which is seeking European
Union membership, would take any retaliatory measures against France,
a founder member of the EU.