Agence France Presse — English
October 13, 2006 Friday

Barroso criticizes France’s Armenian genocide law

European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said Friday
France’s adoption of a bill making it an offence to deny there was an
Armenian genocide in Turkey, was not helpful.

"We don’t think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the
context of the European Union’s relations with Turkey but we have to
respect all the decisions taken by the parliament of France," he told
reporters.

"Frankly, we don’t think it’s helpful that a parliament outside takes
a legislative action on a matter of historic interpretation," he
added.

The French parliament on Thursday approved a bill that would make it
a crime to deny that the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians was
genocide.

The crime would carry a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine
of up to 45,000 euros.

However, the European external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero
Waldner said earlier that the measure, which provoked angry reactions
from Ankara, would not affect Turkey’s EU membership bid.

"One thing is what happens in France, (a) second thing is what we are
doing as (the) European Union with a candidate country," she told
Finnish television.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their ancestors were slaughtered
in a deliberate genocide by Ottoman Turks. Turkey concedes 300,000
Armenians died when the Ottoman Empire fell apart during World War I,
but says large numbers of Turks also died.