PARIS (Armenpress) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris last week with the representatives of the Armenian community, Nouvelles d’Armenie reported.
Co-chair of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France Ara Toranian presented the issues of concern for the Armenian community. He stressed the Nagorno Karabakh issue, stating that the security of the latter is of key importance not only for Armenia, but for the world. Toranian also emphasized the negative position of the Armenian community on the issue of Turkey’s accession to the EU.
During the conversation reference was also made to the individuals with close ties with the Azerbaijani dictatorship within Sarkozy’s circle. Sarkozy stated that when making political decisions, he is the leader, but not the representatives of his circle, stating that he supported the criminalization of the denial of the Armenian Genocide during his presidency. He also affirmed that he is against Turkey’s accession to the European Union, contrary to current President François Hollande’s position.
Referring to the issue of genocides, Sarkozy stated that there have been four genocides – Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the genocide of Cambodians and the Tutsi genocide. He also stated that the struggle of Armenians against genocides raises universal issues. According to him, denialism is not an expression of opinion, but rather a crime.