FM readies for Syria, French bill talks in US

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Davutoğlu (L) is expected to talk about French bill, Syria with his US counterpart. AA photo

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will have talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in his work visit to Washington between Feb. 8 and 13.

Recent developments in the region including Arab League and United Nations Security Council initiatives on Syria, political tension in Iraq and United States sanctions against Iran are expected to be high on the talk agenda.
He will also seek to ensure Congress does not take up any move on the Armenian genocide allegations issue ahead of April 24, diplomatic sources said.

Armenian-Americans traditionally urge U.S. presidents and Congress to officially recognize World War
I-era deaths of their kinsmen in the Ottoman Empire as “genocide” around this time of year.

Each year a bill related to the issue arrives in Congress, but this year Turkey is expected to face a greater challenge due to the approaching elections in the U.S. During his visit Davutoğlu will also deliver a speech at the American Turkish Council (ATC) and participate in a meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The Turkish foreign minister and Clinton are also expected to meet at the Munich Conference this week.

Boyer vows to fight to end

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

French lawmaker Valerie Boyer, architect of the controversial bill criminalizing denial of Armenian “genocide,” expressed her disappointment the bill was taken to the Constitutional Council and said she will fight to the end for this cause.

“Even if this is not a surprise, I am disappointed to see that some parliamentarians prefer legalism to humanism,” Boyer, from the ranks of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, said in a Facebook post. “Although I respect their decision, since it is their right, I share the pain of the families that the memory of the victims is once again proven by this procedure. For me, the pressure exerted by a foreign state denial should not outweigh a universal cause, on the defense of human rights and the size of France,” she said.

“Anyway, I remained convinced that it is not admissible on French territory that the memory of the victims of genocides recognized by France is not protected in the same way! It is unequal treatment and cruel perfectly unacceptable discrimination against which I will fight to the end,” the parliamentary member said.