Turkey's EU minister says French resolution is against EU acquis

ANKARA (A.A) - December 22, 2011 - Turkey's European Union (EU) Minister and chief negotiator said on Thursday that a French resolution criminalizing denial of Armenian allegations regarding incidents of 1915 was against EU acquis and decisions the union had adopted so far. Egemen Bagis said Turkey's views were clear about restriction of freedom of expression in Europe, and Turkey had to struggle a political exploitation in France caused by upcoming elections. "One of most important goals of the EU is freedom of expression, and the EU and EU member states, which say that they care about freedom of expression, are assuming a very wrong attitude by trying to limit freedom of expression," Bagis said during his meeting with Marc Pierini, the head of the EU Delegation to Turkey, in Ankara. Bagis' remarks came when the French parliament was debating the resolution. "Mr. (Nicolas) Sarkozy is trying everything to win electors of other rightist rivals. We have stressed that Turkey's EU process should not be made a tool for political exploitation," Bagis said. Bagis said the resolution, under discussion at the French parliament, had nothing to do with historical facts and it could not help solve today's problems. The minister said Turkish nation would continue to behave sensitively, but Turkey would not let this resolution to affect its EU membership process. Bagis defined the EU process as a reform process, a process of making Turkey a more transparent, stable, richer and stronger country, and said Turkey would go on with this path with determination. Later on Thursday, the French parliament will vote on a resolution that criminalizes the rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915 with a prison term of one year and a monetary fine of 45,000 euros. Turkey strongly opposes the issue of the incidents of 1915 being used as a tool in French politics. Many believe that French President Nicolas Sarkozy supports the Armenian resolution in order to garner support from France's Armenian population that number around 500,000. France will hold the first round of next year's presidential election on April 22 and the second round run-off on May 6. French President Sarkozy is running for a second term.