France has no confirmation of military rift with Turkey - official
PARIS, Nov 16 (KUNA) -- France has not received any official confirmation that Turkey intends to halt military cooperation with the French army because of ongoing tensions due to France's position on the alleged Armenian genocide in 1915.
Several years ago, the French parliament officially recognized the Armenian genocide which is said to have claimed around one million lives.
Turkey disputes the Armenian version and the figures put forward by Armenia.
The situation further deteriorated when the French Parliament last month made it a crime to call into question or dispute the Armenian genocide, a similar move to that made by the Parliament on the Jewish holocaust several years ago.
The latest French move incensed Turkish authorities and resulted in the reports from the Military High Command in Ankara that cooperation with France will be halted.
"To my knowledge, we have not received any official communication on this subject from Turkish authorities," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said.
"Concerning our relations with Turkey in military matters, our armed forces cooperate closely in several operational theatres (and) in the framework of multinational operations," the French official noted.
He cited, in particular, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"There is, thus, a close cooperation and a great mutual respect between the French and Turkish armed forces," he indicated.
There have been calls in Turkey for boycotts of French goods and other retaliatory measures in addition to ending cooperation in a number of areas because of the French Parliaments move on the Armenian genocide issue. (end) jk.
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Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Several years ago, the French parliament officially recognized the Armenian genocide which is said to have claimed around one million lives.
Turkey disputes the Armenian version and the figures put forward by Armenia.
The situation further deteriorated when the French Parliament last month made it a crime to call into question or dispute the Armenian genocide, a similar move to that made by the Parliament on the Jewish holocaust several years ago.
The latest French move incensed Turkish authorities and resulted in the reports from the Military High Command in Ankara that cooperation with France will be halted.
"To my knowledge, we have not received any official communication on this subject from Turkish authorities," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said.
"Concerning our relations with Turkey in military matters, our armed forces cooperate closely in several operational theatres (and) in the framework of multinational operations," the French official noted.
He cited, in particular, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"There is, thus, a close cooperation and a great mutual respect between the French and Turkish armed forces," he indicated.
There have been calls in Turkey for boycotts of French goods and other retaliatory measures in addition to ending cooperation in a number of areas because of the French Parliaments move on the Armenian genocide issue. (end) jk.
bs
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Labels: Genocide Denial Law, Turkey and France
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 8:44 PM
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