What follows is the Turkish response to statements made by French President Sarkozy in Yerevan regarding the 1915 Genocide

We are astounded and deeply regret the statements by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy during his visit to Armenia on the 6-7 October, requesting Turkey to review its history and recognize, by the end of his own term of office, Armenian allegations regarding the events of 1915. The President also said that he would be in favor of taking further steps to support Armenian claims if Turkey fails to do this.

Attempts to exploit controversies between Turkey and Armenia by third parties for their domestic political agenda, and even to see in themselves the right to connect this to their electoral calendar, point to a misperception of their own political power. The French people will judge whether such approaches, based on electoral calculations, are compatible with the French democratic culture and state tradition.

Such an inconsistent and imprudent handling of this serious matter that has human and moral dimensions is unfortunate. Political declarations based on one-sided information and reflecting accusatory judgments regarding historical events are very far from the fair approach that this issue requires and demonstrate a failure to even comprehend Turkey’s approach on the matter. This painful part of our long history with the Armenians can be freely debated in Turkey, unlike in some countries that are party to this issue or others that are not, including France.

Turkey will continue its constructive approach on how to improve its relations with Armenia, overcome the controversy over the events of 1915 and reach a just memory.

What is expected from France is to make a positive contribution to this process and to adopt a responsible approach and discourse that would show care to avoid both damaging the multi-dimensional relationship between Turkey and France and offending the Turkish community in France.

Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
October 7, 2011