EU-Armenia news roundup

EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER INTERVENES IN FRENCH DEBATE ON COMBATING GENOCIDE DENIAL

On October 11 and 13, Olli Rehn, European Commissioner responsible for enlargement negotiations with Turkey, called upon French Parliamentarians not to vote a law making it a criminal offence in France to deny the Armenian genocide. The vote was also extensively covered in the European media, and provoked outrage in Turkey.

The Commissioner’s call, and his subsequent warning that the issue was “threatening the dialogue between the EU and Turkey” are a recognition of the problem’s political significance. The Commissioner’s statements in fact represented a departure from earlier positions. The Commission had made it clear in the past that it considered the issue of genocide denial irrelevant to Turkey’s accession process, and had accordingly rejected calls to address it.

Furthermore, the Commissioner’s suggestion that "dialogue must absolutely be deepened, within Turkey, between Turkey and Armenia, and between Turkey and the Armenian Community as a whole" also implied an unprecedented acknowledgement of the interest of EU citizens of Armenian origin in the issue.

The statement followed French President Jacques Chirac’s equally unprecedented October 2 declaration that “he believes” Turkey must recognize the Armenian genocide prior to joining the European Union. The statement caused Rehn to reiterate the EU’s position: “the recognition of the Armenian genocide is not a condition for Turkish membership of the EU”.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES ON TURKEY'S MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTS

On 27 September, a European Parliament resolution had also raised the question of Turkish policy on the Armenian genocide and on relations with Armenia. The Parliament called for Turkey to establish “good neighbourly relations” with Armenia and lift its blockade of the country. It also commented at length on the question of genocide recognition in Turkey, stressing that “a start at least has been made in the discussion on the painful history with Armenia” and that Turkey must “come to terms with its past”.

The European Parliament had somewhat softened some of its criticism of Turkey’s progress this year in view of the current crisis in the accession talks, caused mainly by the deadlock over Cyprus.