31.10.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. Some 15 French senators from the Republican Unity Party (RPR) have prepared a resolution that would recognize the Armenian genocide, Turkish NTV company informs.
If the resolution is pushed through the French Senate on November 7 with priority, then the Parliament will consider the measure. This year the resolution states that "France officially recognizes a genocide having taken place against Armenians in 1915." Past statements on the genocide have not included reference to a specific year. The resolution's main backer, RPR Secretary-General Adrien Gouteyron, said the resolution is not intended to give the French Parliament the authority to write history, but to accurately define past atrocities. In addition to RPR senators, it is said the measure also has the backing of socialist and communists.
The Armenian Genocide resolution which was accepted by the French Parliament in 1998 and sent to a vote in the Senate had caused a diplomatic row in relations between Turkey and France. Turkey managed to have the resolution shelved, warning that relations between the two countries could be damaged. --0--