ARMENIAN PATRIARCH IN TURKEY SLAMS FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL

AKI, Italy
Oct 16 2006

Istanbul, 16 Oct. (AKI) – The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople
(Istanbul) Mesrop Mutafyan has criticised last week’s decision by
France’s lower house of parliament to approve a vote which would make
it an offence to deny that the massacre of Armenians under Ottoman
rule was a genocide. "Ultra-nationalist groups will benefit from the
draft that the French Parliament had approved and a risky period will
start," Mesrop said in an interview with Turkish newspaper Milliyet
published on Monday.

"I’m concerned that the hard-won bridges between Turks and Armenians
will collapse after this draft", he said.

Though small the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople has exerted an
influential role among Orthodox churches. It represented the largest
Christian community in Turkey.

Last week’s vote by the French lower house has provoked angry reaction
in Turkey.

Some shops and supermarkets in various cities have stopped selling
French products. A private language school in the city of Konya
removed French courses from its programme and some travel agencies
cancelled their tours to Paris originally scheduled for the 3-day
end-of-Ramadan holiday later this month.

"I don’t want to name what has happened in 1915. Tragic things have
happened. The Nationalist Ottoman party has role on that issue, the
seperatist motives of Armenians have a role as have the policies of
Western countries have role on that," Patriarch Mesrop said in the
Milliyet interview.

"The Armenians living abroad put all their efforts to win official
recognition for the ‘genocide’. They also do not take our views into
account. We Armenians living in Turkey support dialogue and peace.

But the disapora think that we are forced to say these things since
they think we are hostages", he said.