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Chirac Calls On Turkey To 'Recognize Its Past'

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  • Chirac Calls On Turkey To 'Recognize Its Past'

    CHIRAC CALLS ON TURKEY TO 'RECOGNIZE ITS PAST'

    Hindu, India
    Sept 30 2006

    Yerevan, Sept. 30 (AP): 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 labor and questioning Turkey's human rights record.
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