EVEN FRANCE REACTED TO DECISION OF FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, LINDEN

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Oct 30 2006

GELIBOLU – Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President
Rene van der Linden, who is visiting Gelibolu town of northwestern
city of Canakkale, said that even France reacted to the decision of
French national assembly regarding so-called Armenian genocide.

Replying to a question on effect of the bill criminalizing denial of
so-called Armenian genocide that was approved in the French national
assembly to Turkey’s EU accession process, Linden indicated, "Turkey is
a part of Europe, but this process can take a long time. The decision
made by the French national assembly will not make a negative impact
on Turkey’s EU accession process, because even France reacted to this
decision. It was not approved in many European countries, either."

Stating that PACE had a positive stance regarding Turkey, Linden
underlined that Turkey has been playing a significant role in works
and efforts of the EU for a long time.