France’s Sarkozy calls on Turkey to ‘face its history’

PARIS/ YEREVAN

Sarkozy (L) is seen with Gilad Shalit (R) and Shalit’s mother in the Elysee Palace. REUTERS photo

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has again called on Turkey to “face its history” in reference to Armenian genocide claims stemming from the 1915 incidents.

France collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, but it later faced up to that period in history, the ntvmsnbc news website reported him as saying. 

Sarkozy spoke Feb. 8 at the annual dinner honoring France’s Jewish community. Before the dinner, Sarkozy met with Gilad Shalit, an Israeli-French soldier who was held hostage for five years by Palestinian militants, according to Associated Press. 

Shalit made an unusual public appearance, meeting with Sarkozy in his presidential palace in Paris. Shalit did not speak to reporters afterward but his father, Noam Shalit, said, “We are very moved.” 
Sarkozy praised Shalit for his “exemplary courage” and his parents for “their determination and their dignity in the face of the ordeal and the anguish,” according to a statement from the president’s office.

Armenia calls on Israel to recognize ‘genocide’

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has called on Israel to stop the “play of words” and recognize the Armenian genocide allegations, referring to a statement from the chairman of the Holocaust Institute, Israel Charny, Panarmenina.net reported.

Nalbandian quoted Israel Charny, founder and director of the Jerusalem Institute of Holocaust and Genocide: “Everyone in Israel must realize: Charny knew the meanings of both the Holocaust and the Genocide.” Nalbandian was responding to his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Liberman, who suggested that “the term Holocaust is inapplicable in reference to any other tragedy.” Nalbandian said the term Holocaust was never used to describe the Armenian “genocide.”