"Year of Armenia in France in 2006 will be followed by the Year of Turkey," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy stated during his formal visit to Turkey. At a meeting with the Turkish FM the parties discussed the positions on the Iranian nuclear program, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the EU enlargement issues and the Armenian Genocide. When touching upon the French law condemning the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of last century Philippe Douste-Blazy stated that ordinary people are concerned about this issue as much as historians. "France values the public dialogue on the issue in Turkey. The law adopted in 2001 reflects the public opinion about the tragedy of 1915," he noted. Despite the strained Turkish-French relations the French Minister warmly commented on the prospects of the cooperation between the two states, the reforms carried out in Turkey and its possible EU membership

According to Turkish Daily News, Turkish analysts are not apt to be too optimistic about the "warming" demonstrated by official Paris although France is the fifth country from the viewpoint of the volume of investments made in the Turkish economy. "France keeps on supporting Greek Cyprus and Armenians while future presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy does not miss a chance to impede Turkey's membership in the EU. These are issue that will not be settled within the next years," Turkish analysts say, reported RFE/RL.