Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Turkey 'must admit WWI genocide'
BBC ^ | Dec 13th, 2004 | BBC

Posted on 12/13/2004 12:15:13 PM PST by eluminate

France has said it will ask Turkey to acknowledge the mass killing of Armenians from 1915 as genocide when it begins EU accession talks.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Turkey had "a duty to remember".

Armenians say 1.5 million of their people died or were deported from their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule.

France is among a group of nations that class the killings as genocide. Turkey denies any organised genocide, claiming they were quelling a civil uprising.

Mr Barnier said France did not consider Turkish acknowledgement a condition of EU entry, but insisted his country would raise the issue once talks opened.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss plans to invite Turkey for accession talks, Mr Barnier said Turkey "must carry out this task as a memorial".

In addition, France believes that accession talks should not begin before the second half of 2005, Mr Barnier said. Turkey has pushed for immediate negotiations.

"I believe that when the time comes, Turkey should come to terms with its past, be reconciled with its own history and recognise this tragedy," Mr Barnier said.

'So-called genocide'

His comments drew no immediate official response from Turkey, which has consistently denied orchestrating genocide and the Armenian figures.

A foreign ministry spokesman in the Turkish capital, Ankara, told Reuters that Turkey has never and will never recognise "any so-called genocide".

Armenia alleges that the Young Turks, in 1915 the dominant party in the Ottoman Empire, systematically arranged the deportation and killing of 1.5 million Armenians.

Turkish relations with independent Armenia, which borders Turkey to the north, have long been coloured by the issue.

Around 300,000 Armenians live in France, more than in any other European country, and community leaders have pledged to pressure French President Jacques Chirac on the genocide issue during Turkish accession negotiations.

France passed a law officially recognising the Armenian genocide in 2001, cooling relations with Turkey and scuppering a major arms deal.

Another 14 nations, including Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, also classify the killings as genocide.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: accension; armenia; armenian; armenians; eu; europe; extortion; france; genocide; leverage; pc; talks; turkey
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-46 next last
Hopefully they will admit guilt and accept responsibility. And also get their army off Cypris.
1 posted on 12/13/2004 12:15:13 PM PST by eluminate
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: eluminate

Japan never admitted Nanking.....


2 posted on 12/13/2004 12:15:58 PM PST by Mikey_1962
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

Right after France admits its police were more-than-helpful rounding up Jews for the gas chambers.


3 posted on 12/13/2004 12:16:20 PM PST by MeanWestTexan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

And when Turkey says "no", France will reply, "Oh, OK," and vote in favor of their EU admission, anyway.


4 posted on 12/13/2004 12:17:00 PM PST by Mr. Jeeves
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate
Then, they need to insist that America owns up to its Christian roots....

Wouldn't that chap the Dims' and ACLU's butts...

5 posted on 12/13/2004 12:18:08 PM PST by trebb (Ain't God good . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

I look at it this way... it is history we need to get past it.... Not past the fact that it happened, but the fact that almost 100 years later making people that had no direct connection to the event pay the debt of their ancestors...

Plus France ought to be treading very carefully where ever they go...The need to clean up their backyard before they go dictating to other countries what they need to do.


6 posted on 12/13/2004 12:19:43 PM PST by Americanwolf (Democratic Underground... Digital Crack for the the loony left.....Hey troll! Put the pipe down!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

This attitude of moral superiority the French have adopted in recent years is reall beginning to PI$$ ME OFF!!!


7 posted on 12/13/2004 12:20:17 PM PST by CaptRon (Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Ping for later


8 posted on 12/13/2004 12:20:19 PM PST by Alex Murphy (Psalm 73)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

france is just pi$$ed because Turkey won't join them in the war for terrorism.


9 posted on 12/13/2004 12:20:25 PM PST by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate
Armenians say 1.5 million of their people died or were deported from their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule
Shouldn't they have right of return? </SARC>
10 posted on 12/13/2004 12:20:37 PM PST by bikepacker67 ("This is the best election night in history." -- DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe 11/2/04 8pm)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MeanWestTexan

They've got a lot of damned Gaul demanding anyone to admit anything.


11 posted on 12/13/2004 12:20:58 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

Muslims killing raping and ethnically cleansing Christians - why would anyone care?


12 posted on 12/13/2004 12:23:10 PM PST by 2banana (They want to die for Islam and we want to kill them)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bikepacker67

1.5 mil got killed off in reality there cant be a return.
consider that the population is around 5 or 6 million its a lot of people in 1915 it was about half the population.
I think if Germany admitted to what they did Turkey should fess up as well.


13 posted on 12/13/2004 12:26:51 PM PST by eluminate
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Eric in the Ozarks
They've got a lot of damned Gaul demanding anyone to admit anything.

Haha! Brilliant. I nearly forgot that in antiquity the Gauls occupied what is now France. I suppose Italy should demand France apologize for Hannibal. As a huge fan of ancient Rome I now have another reason to hate the French :-)
14 posted on 12/13/2004 12:29:13 PM PST by mike182d
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: eluminate
For the Turks to admit what they did and to apologize for it, will be a giant step forward in Non Muslim/Muslim relations. Now and forever, once and for all, it is important for Muslims to recognize that no people at no time on earth will accept what has been and continues to be the primary point of divergence between the Muslim and Non Muslim people. Muslim 'genocide' of Non Muslims, 'murder', 'brutality' that they practice on Non Muslims and the 'ethnocentric dominance' they preach will not be endured longer. They must return tolerance for tolerance.
15 posted on 12/13/2004 12:30:45 PM PST by SMARTY ("Stay together, pay the soldiers and forget everything else." Lucius Septimus Severus to his sons)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

How many different governments has Turkey gone through in the last 90 years? Why should this government "admit" anything about any government that it replaced?

This obsession with apologizing for the mistakes of history is getting pretty silly.


16 posted on 12/13/2004 12:30:49 PM PST by discostu (mime is money)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate
I think that should be dependent on France acknowledging that Saddam murdering 1.5 million of his people was genocide.
17 posted on 12/13/2004 12:31:12 PM PST by elfman2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SMARTY

I'm sure they could equally demand an apology from all of ancient Christendom for the Crusades...


18 posted on 12/13/2004 12:33:44 PM PST by mike182d
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

IIRC the Turkish position was that the genocide indeed happened but that the republic is not responsible because it was a crime commited by the Ottoman Empire. Kinda like blaming Nixon for a war that Kennedy started I guess (*scratches head*).


19 posted on 12/13/2004 12:36:16 PM PST by Squawk 8888
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eluminate

Uh, this is a joke, right? No?

Well, I can't wait for this to play out. France may get dragged kicking and screaming into the WOT after all.

I am sitting on the edge of my seat anxiously awaiting the next passionate speech from Dominique Villepain!


20 posted on 12/13/2004 12:38:26 PM PST by Stashiu ( Yeah, I am a Vietnam Vet, not a War Criminal.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-46 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson