11.11.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. “Our expectation is that the assembly does not repeat the (French) Senate’s mistake, which could harm bilateral ties”, said press-secretary of the Turkish president Tacan Ildem in Ankara, commenting upon the upcoming consideration by the lower house of French parliament of the Armenian Genocide Bill, adopted by the French Senate on November 8.
Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer sees the Senate’s approval of the resolution as a “regrettable development, as there is no genocide in Turkish history “, Ildem said.
On November 8 French senators approved a bill recognizing the death of Armenians in 1915 during the Ottoman era as a “genocide.” There were 164 votes in favor of the bill and 40 against.
After the bill is approved by the National Assembly of France it will be presented to the French President Jacques Chirac to be signed.
The National Assembly of France approved the resolution of the Armenian genocide on May 28, 1998, but due to pressure of executive bodies the question was not included in the agenda of the Senate. -0-
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