NEW YORK–French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier again stressed the importance of Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide–speaking to reporters in New York on Tuesday.
Barnier made his remarks during a press conference held after the UN General Assembly session commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz.
Barnier told reporters that he hoped Turkey–"as a developed country," will come to terms with its past–and in aspiring to become a member of the European Union–will admit to perpetrating the Armenian Genocide 90 years ago.
He added that the EU has an "obligation to not only commemorate the victims [of the Armenian genocide] but to–at the same time–be alert and unyielding–so that similar tragic acts are not repeated."
Asked by a reporter what France’s position would be if Armenia demanded that the UN General Assembly hold a session similar to the one commemorating the liberation of Nazi concentration camps 60 years ago–Barnier reminded the reporter that the French Parliament unanimously passed a law in 2001 recognizing the Armenian genocide.