In the conversation with Aravot.am, Andranik Ispiryan, referring to the call of French President Francois Hollande, and to the observation of which is the interest of France that the President decided to come up in Ankara with the call of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, answered, “They had three important expectations associated with Francois Hollande’s visit to Turkey. First, to mitigate the France-Turkey relations, secondly, to seize a concede from Hollande regarding the genocide issue, thirdly, to mitigate the position of France regarding Turkey’s accession to EU. However, at least two of the three expectations did not happen. Most importantly, we are interested in the issue of genocide, about which Hollande said he would go to the adoption of the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide. And why did he say? This was not just his personal decision, it was the political line coming from his ancestors, as the Turkish-French tension has years of history, and the attitude of France regarding the genocide is known to us since 2000.” As said by Andranik Ispiryan, Francois Hollande’s immediate interest is the following: he knows that in France both the Armenian community and the French are expecting for him that he will show Turkey its place. In other words, “Hollande told what was expected from him in France. His personal problems had put him into a bad situation, and in this context, continuing the tough policy of France Hollande hopes to improve his rating, relying on the Armenian lobby, which is a power in France.” Andranik Ispiryan finds that Francois Hollande’s statement forced the Turks to put down their rhetoric. And, that it became a tool to rebuke Turkey, which was very important for us. In addition, “Hollande was the unique President who was raised the issue of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey and called on Turks to face the history.”
Eva HAKOBYAN
