Multiple Articles:
Chirac Calls On Turkey To "Recognize Its Past" In Connection With Mass Killings Of Armenians
Associated Press Worldstream
French President Jacques Chirac called on Turkey on Saturday to
"recognize its past" in connection with the mass killings of Armenians
in the early 20th century.
"Turkey should acknowledge the mistakes of its past," Chirac said at a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert Kocharian. "I believe that every country, in accordance with its level of development, should acknowledge its tragic moments and the mistakes of the past."
A reporter had asked Chirac whether Turkey should have to recognize the killings as genocide before being admitted to the European Union.
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign and have pushed for recognition of the killings as genocide around the world. Turkey rejects the claim that a mass evacuation and related deaths of Armenians was genocide and says the death toll is inflated.
France's parliament has officially recognized the killings as genocide, and Chirac said in 2004 that Turkey would have to agree on that point if it wanted to become an EU member.
ADMIT GENOCIDE BEFORE JOINING EU, CHIRAC TELLS TURKEY
by Simon Ostrovsky and Mariam Haroutunian
Agence France Presse -- English
French President Jacques Chirac on Saturday urged Turkey to recognize World War I-era massacres of Armenians as genocide if it wants to join the European Union, speaking during a visit to the Armenian capital.
In comments that are likely to irritate Ankara and put a further strain on its relations with France, Chirac told a news conference Turkey needed to face up to its Ottoman past in response to a question on the nation's EU ambitions.
Asked if he thought Turkey should recognize the 1915-1917 massacres as genocide before it joins the EU, the French president replied: "Honestly, I believe so."
"All countries grow up acknowledging their dramas and their errors," said Chirac, who is on a two-day visit to Armenia, where he has paid homage to Yerevan's "genocide" memorial and attended the inauguration of a "France Square" in central Yerevan.
Until now, France had refused to make a direct link between the genocide issue and Turkey's EU membership bid. The bloc has not made it a condition of entry.
But a response to the same question by Chirac's Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian was markedly softer, reflecting Armenia's desire to mend ties with its neighbour and improve its struggling economy.
"We don't see any danger in this process," Kocharian said of Turkey's EU aspirations, "but we would like that our interests would be discussed in the process too," he added.
Kocharian said it would be in Armenia's interests to have a neighbour "with a value system that allows for free movement and open borders."
France, which has 400,000 citizens of Armenian descent, officially recognized the events as genocide in 2001, putting a strain on its relations with fellow NATO member Turkey.
A proposal by France's socialists to make genocide denial a crime punishable by a year in prison and a 45,000-euro fine has elicited further ire in Turkey, but Chirac said he did not support the proposal.
"France has fully recognized the tragedy of the genocide and allthe rest is more like polemics than legislative reality," he said of the proposal.
Armenia has campaigned for Turkey to recognize the WWI massacres,in which it says 1.5 million Armenians died, as genocide.
But Turkey argues that that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in an internal conflict sparked by attempts by Armenians to win independence in eastern Anatolia.
Today's Armenia is in an unenviable geopolitical position.
Flanked to the south-west by historical foe Turkey, its eastern borders press up against Azerbaijan, with which Yerevan is still technically at war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
As a result, its only access to the outside world is through Iran and Georgia.
But as relations between Russia and Georgia sour, exemplified by this week's Russian-spy row in Tbilisi, transporting Russian goods to Moscow's ally Armenia has become more difficult.
"Armenia is very interested in the normalization of Georgian-Russian relations because it directly effects our economy," Kocharian said.
Chirac, whose country makes up part of the so-called Minsk Group of
mediators between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has tried to personally
intervene in their conflict by meeting both presidents in Paris
earlier this year.
A framework agreement on the resolution of the territorial dispute was widely hoped for during a Paris meeting between the two Caucasus presidents, however no visible progress was made.
Chirac defended the Minsk Group, which Azerbaijan has criticized, saying its experts "have done good work, of course in an infinitely complex situation."
The ethnic-Armenian enclave of Karabakh is within Azerbaijan's territory but Armenians currently control it as well as seven surrounding Azerbaijani regions.
Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by the war, in which some 25,000 people died, ending in a shaky 1994 cease-fire.
CHIRAC ADVISES TURKEY TO FOLLOW GERMANY'S EXAMPLE AND RECOGNIZE THE GENOCIDE
Public Radio of Armenia
French President Jacques Chirac declared in Yerevan today that Turkey will turn into "a more mature country" if it accepts the mistakes of its past, particularly the Armenian Genocide.
"After acknowledging the Holocaust, Germany did not lose its grandeur,"Jacques Chirac noted, saying that the capacity to accept the dark pages and mistakes of the past is a sign of the state's maturity.
RA president Robert Kocharyan declared that Turkey's entry talks with the EU comprise no danger for Yerevan.
"We wish our neighbours to believe in democratic values and be
predictable. In this regard, Turkey's desire to join the European Union
does not comprise danger for us. At the same time we would like
the questions of concern for Armenia to find their solution during these
talks," Robert Kocharyan said.
Commenting on the draft envisaging penalty for Armenian Genocide deniers presented by French Socialists, Jacques Chirac reminded that "in 2001 France fully recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide, and this law has equal force for everyone.
FRANCE'S CHIRAC PAYS HOMAGE TO ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE" MEMORIAL
Agence France Presse -- English
French president Jacques Chirac attended a solemn ceremony at Armenia's
monument to the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman
Turks in a move likely to irritate neighbouring Turkey.
Accompanied by his wife Bernadette, Chirac is on the first ever visit of a French president to the impoverished Caucasus nation, which is at odds with its Turkic neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Chirac placed flowers at the towering Tsitsernakaberd monument where he was greeted by an honour guard playing mournful music before being taken on a tour of a "Genocide Museum."
France, which has 400,000 citizens of Armenian descent, officially recognized the World War I-era events as genocide in 2001, putting a strain on its relations with European Union aspirant and fellow NATO member Turkey.
Visiting dignitaries traditionally plant a fir tree at the memorial grounds and Chirac paused near a pine planted by slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, asking to be photographed before planting his own sapling.
France became the first Western power to officially recognize the massacres as genocide.
Many countries, including the United States and Israel, have so far refused to label the massacres as genocide.
Armenians throughout the world have pushed for official recognition of the killings, in which they say 1.5 million of their brethren perished, as genocide.
But Ankara argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in an internal conflict sparked by attempts by Armenians to win independence for eastern Anatolia and secure assistance for their bid from Russia - Turkey's age-old nemesis.
Armenia is also locked in a stalemate with Azerbaijan over the
ethnic-Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which it gained control of
in an early 1990s war but which is still internationally recognized
as part of Azerbaijan.
JACQUES CHIRAC: "I WOULD LIKE FRENCH SQUARE TO BE ALSO PEACE SQUARE" FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC'S SPEECH DURING OPENING OF FRENCH SQUARE IN YEREVAN
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
The Armenian President Robert Kocharian and the French President Jacques Chirac made speeches during the official ceremony of opening French Square in Yerevan on September 30. Below is President Jacques Chirac's speech with some abridgement:
"It is with great excitement that I am familiarizing myself with the Armenian land.
Excitement caused by the first visit of the French state's leader to the places bearing evidence of the birth of the world, these places where the guardian-giant Mount Ararat is said to become a shelter for Noah's Ark at the end of the Deluge.
Excitement about the heroic and full of suffering history of the Armenian people from time immemorial. From the very first it was a Christian people true to its identity and faith. A people on whose fate a genocide will be imprinted for ever, the genocide to which it fell victim under conditions of the shocks caused by World War I and the collapse of empires.
Excitement when I think about those who experienced this tragedy and were forced to follow the sad path of exile. When I think about all those who turned with confidence to France as a sister in belief that it will provide shelter and solace.
Eventually, an excitement when It remember all those who resisted the Nazi barbarism like Misak Mnushian and his friends. France will never forget their struggle for our freedom.
... Your national heritage treasures - Urartu antiquities,
masterpieces of Christian Armenia, manuscripts of the Matenadaran, works
of Arshil Gorky and Parajanov will be on display at the most
famous cultural centres of France. They will remind the French about the
power of the Armenian culture, its support for our civilization and its
dissemination throughout the world.
Mister President,
Dear Friends,
Responding to your invitation to pay a state visit, I first of all want to highlight the unique links between our two peoples. I want to stress my confidence in Armenia's future.
Confidence in the ability of the young independent republic of an ancient nation to build a legal state that guarantees democracy and social freedoms and shares with us its commitment to human rights.
Confidence in the Armenian youth which has the aspiration for peace and freedom and strives to use to the full its enthusiasm, its thirst for justice and its enterprise.
Confidence in the ability of your state to succeed with its economic development and confidence in its will to become a most favourable place for investment thanks to those exceptional capabilities that consist in the talent and cultural power of its youth.
Confidence in its ability to struggle for peace. It is a big challenge,the most difficult one, which your country should overcome. A challenge that Armenia can and must overcome because only a fair and lasting peace will allow your people to realize its hopes.
I believe in peace. It was in the past that conflicts were settled by force. The time when it was possible to instigate feuds in disregard of peace and security is over.
It is only the dialog based on dignity and mutual respect that allows one to look at the future in a long-term perspective.
Today those who achieve peace are the great ones - those capable of
overcoming bellicose legacies in order to open the path of
reconciliation. This is the evidence I want to present to you today
in this French Square which I would like to be a peace square as well.
Dear friends,
For the past ten years France has not spared efforts to find a solution to the regretful Nagorno-Kharbakh conflict within the framework of Minsk Group.
Today I want to believe that the time of peace has come. I want to believe because I know the price of war. One last step has to be taken to reach peace. A difficult step in evidence of faith in the future of humanity. It leads against the false security of the current situation and allows to choose the path of confident movement. This final step can and must be taken in Yerevan and Baku because it allows to open the horizon of light, peace and prosperity. These are my wishes to all the Caucasian peoples."
CHIRAC POKES FINGER IN TURKEY'S EYE ON ARMENIA 'GENOCIDE'
By Andrew Rettman
EUObserver, Belgium
French president Jacques Chirac paid no heed to Turkish sensitivities on his first-ever visit to Armenia this weekend, calling on Turkey to own up to "genocide" before joining the EU and comparing the killings to Nazi Germany's holocaust.
"Should Turkey recognise the genocide of Armenia to join the EU?" Mr
Chirac asked, AP reports. "I believe so. Each country grows by
acknowledging the dramas and errors of its past...Can one say that
Germany, which has deeply acknowledged the holocaust, has as a result
lost credit? It has grown."
The French leader made the remarks in Yerevan on Saturday (30 September) at a wreath-laying ceremony beside the country's "Genocide Monument", before visiting the "Genocide Museum" and writing the solitary word "remember" in the visitors' book.
Armenia says Turkish forces slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917 but the Turkish government and Turkish history books claim that 300,000 Armenians and 300,000 Turks died in a 'civil war' in the region.
Fifteen countries, including France, Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, have previously classified the killings as "genocide" - defined by the UN as "harmful acts...committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."
In Turkey, any deviation from the official line can land novelists or university professors in jail under article 301 of the country's new penal code against "insulting Turkishness."
But there has been no official reaction to Mr Chirac's statements so far, despite mumblings by unnamed Turkish diplomats in the Turkish Daily News that they are "worried" about worsening bilateral relations.
Chirac goes further than EU The French leader's remarks go further
than Brussels' formal EU accession conditions, which require Ankara to
boost democratic standards in areas such as free speech and to
lift its blockade on Cypriot shipping - but do not mention the thorny
Armenian question.
MEPs voting on a highly-critical report on Turkey's EU accession progress last week also opted to cut out a clause calling for recognition of the Armenian genocide for fear of stirring up a nationalist backlash in the EU's most controversial candidate state.
Armenia itself has so far shied away from confrontation on the subject, with president Robert Kocharian on Saturday saying merely "we would like that our interests be discussed" in the EU-Turkey accession talks.
The small, landlocked country of 3.6 million people is in a tricky
position: it has closed borders with Turkey in the west; the prospect of
a Russian-Georgian conflict in the north; escalating tensions with
Azerbaijan in the east and borders with international pariah Iran in the
south.
But France plans to keep on pressing the issue with a vote tabled in parliament on 12 October over a fresh resolution that Turkey must give the Armenian killings their proper name.
About 400,000 Armenian ex-pats live in France, with some - such as singer Charles Aznavour - rising to social prominence and with Paris promising to hold a referendum before it ratifies Turkish EU accession in the future.
http://euobserver.com/9/22543/?rk=1
JACQUES CHIRAC: "FRANCE FULLY RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Robert Kocharian Does Not Object To Creation Of Commission On Solution Of Armenian-Turkish Problem
YEREVAN, "Remember". This was the only word that the French President
Jacques Chirac wrote on September 30 in the memorial book of the
Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide after visiting the
Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex, laying flowers at the eternal flame in
memory of the genocide victims and becoming acquainted with some museum
documents. Jacques Chirac also planted
a fir-tree in the memorial alley of the complex.
During a press conference following their tete-a-tete meeting, the
two presidents responded to reporters' questions. At the request of a
reporter of "Le Figaro", J. Chirac touched upon the draft law
on recognition of denial of the Armenian Genocide as a punishable
action. It is envisaged to discuss this draft in the French National
Assembly in the near future. "I want to remind that France recognized
the Armenian Genocide by force of law and this law applies to
everybody," J. Chirac noted. In his words, France is a legal state where
criminal responsibility is envisaged for ethnic intolerance
such as racism and actions instigating it. He pointed out once again
that France fully recognized the Armenian Genocide.
Responding to a question of "Le Monde", President Kocharian said: "Today our relations with Turkey have not actually been formed. We are interested in having relations with a more predictable, more secure and democratic country. Of course, Armenia does not see any danger in the issue of Turkey's membership of the EU, quite the opposite. We would like the issues concerning us to be solved in this process, as well as the European system of values regarding free movement and openness of borders, to be used in Turkey as well, and at the initial rather than final stage of its membership."
The French president in his turn noted that every state develops by
admitting problems of its past: "By recognizing the genocide of Jews,
Germany did not lose its greatness and self-confidence. On the
contrary, a country and nation develops by admitting the mistakes made
in the past and striving to enter the union that respects human rights.
Turkey must think about discussion and admission of its past," President
Chirac underlined.
Asked by Paris correspondent of the Turkish paper "Huriet" why the Armenian president does not respond to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's proposal to set up a commission of historians to discuss the issue of "massacres", Robert Kocharian replied that the heads of neighbouring countries should communicate not through the press but through their diplomatic missions and by holding consultations of their foreign ministries. "I regret that no such relations exist between Turkey and Armenia. Responding to Erdogan's letter, I proposed setting up an interstate commission to find solutions to all problems, including the issue of creating a commission of historians. There has been no response so far," the Armenian president said.
Admit "Genocide" Before Joining EU,
Chirac Tells Turkey.
The News - International, Pakistan
YEREVAN: French President Jacques Chirac on Saturday urged Turkey to recognise World War I-era massacres of Armenians as genocide if it wants to join the European Union, speaking during a visit to the Armenian capital.
In comments that are likely to irritate Ankara and put a further strain on its relations with France, Chirac told a news conference Turkey needed to face up to its Ottoman past in response to a question on the nation's EU ambitions.
Asked if he thought Turkey should recognise the 1915-1917 massacres
as genocide before it joins the EU, the French president replied:
"Honestly, I believe so." "All countries grow up acknowledging
their dramas and their errors," said Chirac, who is on a two-day visit
to Armenia, where he has paid homage to Yerevan's "genocide" memorial
and attended the inauguration of a "France Square" in central Yerevan.
Until now, France had refused to make a direct link between the genocide
issue and Turkey's EU membership bid. The bloc has not made it a
condition of entry.
But a response to the same question by Chirac's Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian was markedly softer, reflecting Armenia's desire to mend ties with its neighbour and improve its struggling economy.
"We don't see any danger in this process," Kocharian said of Turkey's
EU aspirations, "but we would like that our interests would be discussed
in the process too," he added. Kocharian said it would be
in Armenia's interests to have a neighbour "with a value system that
allows for free movement and open borders."
France, which has 400,000 citizens of Armenian descent, officially
recognized the events as genocide in 2001, putting a strain on its
relations with fellow NATO member Turkey. A proposal by France's
socialists to make genocide denial a crime punishable by a year in
prison and a 45,000-euro fine has elicited further ire in Turkey, but
Chirac said he did not support the proposal.
"France has fully recognised the tragedy of the genocide and all the rest is more like polemics than legislative reality," he said of the proposal.
Armenia has campaigned for Turkey to recognise the WWI massacres, in which it says 1.5 million Armenians died, as genocide. But Turkey argues that that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in an internal conflict sparked by attempts by Armenians to win independence in eastern Anatolia. Today's Armenia is in an unenviable geopolitical position. Flanked to the south-west by historical foe Turkey, its eastern borders press up against Azerbaijan, with which Yerevan is still technically at war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. As a result, its only access to the outside world is through Iran and Georgia.
But as relations between Russia and Georgia sour, exemplified by this week's Russian-spy row in Tbilisi, transporting Russian goods to Moscow's ally Armenia has become more difficult. "Armenia is very interested in the normalization of Georgian-Russian relations because it directly effects our economy," Kocharian said.
Chirac, whose country makes up part of the so-called Minsk Group of
mediators between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has tried to personally
intervene in their conflict by meeting both presidents in Paris
earlier this year.
A framework agreement on the resolution of the territorial dispute was widely hoped for during a Paris meeting between the two Caucasus presidents, however no visible progress was made. Chirac defended the Minsk Group, which Azerbaijan has criticised, saying its experts "have done good work, of course in an infinitely complex situation."
Chirac Chides Turkey
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Associated Press
Time to admit mass killings.
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) French President Jacques Chirac urged Turkey on Saturday to acknowledge the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign to force them out of eastern Turkey and have pushed for recognition around the world of the killings as genocide.
Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died but says the
overall figure is inflated and that the deaths occurred in the civil
unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. But Ankara
is facing increasing pressure to fully acknowledge the killings,
particularly as it seeks membership in the European Union.
"Should Turkey recognize the genocide of Armenia to join the European Union?" Chirac asked, echoing a question posed by a reporter at a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert Kocharian.
"Honestly, I believe so. Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and errors of the past."
Chirac's comments went further than in the past, using the word
genocide directly for the first time. In 2004, Chirac said Turkey should
recognize the killings and make "an effort at memory" to join
the EU. France's parliament has officially recognized the killings as
genocide.
Chirac has personally supported Turkey's entry into the 25-nation EU,though many French have grave misgivings, fearing an influx of cheap labour and questioning Turkey's human rights record.
Earlier Saturday, Chirac and his wife, Bernadette, laid a wreath at the Memorial to the Victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and visited the Genocide Museum and Institute. Chirac wrote a single world in the guestbook: "Remember."
Chirac was paying the first visit by a French president to the former Soviet republic of Armenia since in gained independence. France has some 400,000 citizens of Armenian origin, and plans several events in the coming year linked to Armenian culture and history.
"Can one say that Germany, which has deeply acknowledged the Holocaust,has as a result lost credit? It has grown," Chirac said, urging Turkey to take inspiration from that and other examples.
Kocharian thanked France for giving "the force of law" to recognition of the killings as genocide.
Chirac and Kocharian then participated in the opening ceremony for French Republic Square in the center of Yerevan and attended a concert by Charles Aznavour, a famous French singer of Armenian origin.
Chirac: Armenian Genocide Is An
EU Provision.
Sabah, Turkey.
French President of the Republic Jacques Chirac has intimidated Turkey
during his visit to Armenia.
He used the word "genocide" for the first time and many times during his visit.
He said "Turkey should recognize the genocide in order to become an EU member" He related this issue with the Nazis: "Germany has recognized the Jewish genocide and grew even bigger"
Chirac insists: "Recognize the Armenian genocide".
Becoming the first Western leader to visit Yerevan, French President
of the Republic Jacques Chirac used the word "genocide" for the first
time in Armenia. Stating that Turkey should recognize the genocide in
order to become an EU member, Chirac said: "After the Jewish holocaust,
Germany has recognized it and defrayed its costs. But this did not
descend Germany. In fact, Germany has grown even bigger in the eyes of
the world. Now it is time for Turkey to play a memory game and to
face reality."
PRESIDENT CHIRAC CALLS ON TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE OF ARMENIANS
Focus News, Bulgaria
Yerevan. The French President Jacques Chirac call on Turkey to "acknowledge its past" while he was speaking about the mass murders of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Macedonian TV A1 reports.
"Turkey should acknowledge its mistakes from the past. I believe that
each country should recognize its tragic moments and mistakes from the
past", the French head of state announced at a joint press
conference with the Armenian President Robert Kocharian.
According to President Chirac who is on a two days' visit in Yerevan,Turkey should declare the killing of Armenians as genocide.
The Armenian community claims that some 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and 1923.
Chirac Calls On Turkey To
"Recognize Its Past" In Connection With Mass Killings Of Armenians
International Herald
Tribune, France
The Associated Press
YEREVAN, Armenia French President Jacques Chirac called on Turkey on Saturday to "recognize its past" in connection with the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century.
"Turkey should acknowledge the mistakes of its past," Chirac said at
a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert Kocharian. "I
believe that every country, in accordance with its
level of development, should acknowledge its tragic moments and the
mistakes of the past."
A reporter had asked Chirac whether Turkey should have to recognize the killings as genocide before being admitted to the European Union.
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign and have pushed for recognition of the killings as genocide around the world. Turkey rejects the claim that a mass evacuation and related deaths of Armenians was genocide and says the death toll is inflated.
France's parliament has officially recognized the killings as genocide,and Chirac said in 2004 that Turkey would have to agree on that point if it wanted to become an EU member.
YEREVAN, Armenia French President Jacques Chirac called on Turkey on Saturday to "recognize its past" in connection with the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century.
"Turkey should acknowledge the mistakes of its past," Chirac said at a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert Kocharian. "I believe that every country, in accordance with its level of development, should acknowledge its tragic moments and the mistakes of the past."
A reporter had asked Chirac whether Turkey should have to recognize the killings as genocide before being admitted to the European Union.
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign and have pushed for recognition of the killings as genocide around the world. Turkey rejects the claim that a mass evacuation and related deaths of Armenians was genocide and says the death toll is inflated.
France's parliament has officially recognized the killings as genocide,and Chirac said in 2004 that Turkey would have to agree on that point if it wanted to become an EU member.
Chirac Calls On Turkey To
'Recognize Its Past'
Hindu, India
Yerevan: The French President, Jacques Chirac, called on Turkey on Saturday to "recognize its past" in connection with the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century and acknowledge them as genocide.
"Should Turkey recognize the genocide of Armenia to join the European Union?" Chirac asked, echoing a question posed by a reporter at a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert Kocharian. "Honestly, I believe so. Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and errors of the past."
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign and have pushed for recognition of the killings as genocide around the world. Turkey rejects the claim that a mass evacuation and related deaths of Armenians was genocide and says the death toll is inflated.
Chirac's comments went farther than in the past, using the word
genocide directly for the first time. In 2004, Chirac said Turkey should
recognize the killings and make "an effort at memory" to join
the EU, and France's parliament has officially recognized the killings
as genocide.
Many French have grave misgivings about Turkey entering the EU, fearing an influx of cheap labour and questioning Turkey's human rights record.
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