TURKEY RECALLS ITS AMBASSADOR FROM PARIS AFTER ARMENIAN RESOLUTION IS PASSED IN FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

19.01.2001, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. Turkey recalled its ambassador to France Sonmez Koksal “for consultations” after the French National Assembly unanimously approved a bill on January 18 recognizing the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, leading world news agencies report.
“The bill, which has greatly disappointed our nation, will cause serious and lasting harm to Turco-French relations and could lead to a serious crisis in our ties,” said the statement of the Turkish government.
The head of the Ankara trade chamber Sinan Aygun called Thursday for a boycott of French goods to retaliate against the French parliament’s adoption of the Armenian bill. The Turkish co-chairman of the Turco-French business council, Aldo Kaslowski, for his part, denounced suggestions for immediate moves of retaliation in the economic field. “We should not act hastily. It is easy to spoil relations, but rebuilding them is difficult,” he was quoted as saying.
The National Assembly of France on January 18 adopted unanimously the Armenian Genocide bill. The Upper House of the French Parliament – the Senate, passed the Armenian Resolution on November 8, 2000. It is expected that after the National Assembly of France approves the Resolution, it will be submitted to the French President Jacques Chirac for the signature. -0-