Syrian situation will be discussed in Turkey: Sarkozy is not invited

Second conference named “Syrian friends” will take place on the end of March in Istanbul. As Turkish media inform the situation is Syria and the further steps concerning this country are the main themes of the conference.

Clashes in Syria have started since March, 2011 and the opposition forces claim President Bashar al-Assad must resign. UN announces that nearly 8000 people have already been killed as a result of these clashes. Arabic League and European Union have already held some sanctions against Syrian Government. Russia and China prevented UN SC to put sanctions on Syria.

As Turkish sources write Turkish side did not send an invitation to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. As the diplomatic sources inform N. Sarkozy is a persona non-grata in Turkey because of his policy towards the resolution of criminalization of Armenian Genocide denial.

Remind that on January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. If the bill was signed it would impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

But French Constitutional Council announced that the bill was anti-constitutional. French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to circulate a new bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial in case the constitutional council recognized the January 23 bill as contradicting the constitution.

French Prime Minister Allen Juppe will participate in the conference in Istanbul.