FINNISH FM TUOMIOJA: THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT MADE A BAD MISTAKE
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 24 2006
Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja yesterday criticized a bill
criminalizing rejecting of Armenian historical claims passed by the
French Parliament last week, saying that it made a bad mistake and
should quickly rectify the situation.
Saying that all countries had dark chapters in their pasts, Tuomioja
added that these chapters were usually met with silence, amnesia,
and denial.
"I think that ‘genocide’ is an exaggerated term for that time,"
he added.
Turkey has never accepted the Armenian claims of genocide. Turkish
Government says about 2 million Muslim Ottoman citizens were
massacred by the Armenian armed groups during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire. Armenia does not recognise Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s
national borders.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress