Hollande vows to make ‘genocide’ EU criteria

PARIS - Anatolia News Agency

Hollande vows to reintroduce the ‘genocide’ bill, according to Armenian group. AP photo

The Socialist candidate for the French Presidency, Francois Hollande, has said that he will make recognition of the 1915 Armenian killings as “genocide” by Turkey one of the key criteria for Turkey’s EU membership, if elected, an Armenian-French community group said yesterday.

The Co-ordination Council of Armenian organizations of France (CCAF) a representative body of the French-Armenian Community, said in a written statement that Hollande had promised them he would reintroduce the bill penalizing denial of Armenian genocide claims and launch a memorial-museum for the Armenian genocide allegations in Paris as of 2015. French President Nicola Sarkozy, in the race for the next presidency, backed a bill penalizing genocide allegations, which was annulled by a high court. After the annulment, Sarkozy said he would reintroduce the bill, if reelected.