New Anatolian, Turkey
Feb 19 2008

Visiting French official: Parliament did not approve bill on Armenian
genocide

The New Anatolian / Ankara

19 February 2008

French Secretary of State for Industry and Foreign Trade Herve
Novelli said the French parliament did not approve bill on 1915
incidents; the bill was adopted only by national parliament and
presented to senate.

The bill bans denial of Armenian genocide.

Novelli said the adoption of that bill was not on their agenda.

Upon questions of reporters (regarding the French bill on 1915
incidents) during a ceremony at which Turkey’s Halkbank and French
Development Agency (AFD) signed a loan agreement, Novelli said
sometimes politics intervened in economy.

Novelli said he arrived in Turkey with a crowded group of
businessmen, and it showed their will to further strengthen the
relations between Turkey and France.

On the other hand, Turkish State Minister & Deputy Prime Minister
Nazim Ekren said they exchanged views on what could be done to
further improve the quality of relations in area of economy between
Turkey and France.

"This project is one of the things that should be done. Loan for
small & medium scale enterprises should be considered a support for
regional and company development," Ekren added.