French Embassy commemorates slain soldiers on national day
French Ambassador to Turkey Laurent Bili hosted a reception to celebrate the French national day on Thursday during which he recalled five French soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday and 13 Turkish soldiers martyred in Diyarbakır on Wednesday, inviting his guests to observe a moment of silence as a show of respect for the dead.

The reception took place in the garden of the ambassador's residence in Ankara. Among the guests present were members of the Turkish Parliament, including Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, Constitutional Court Vice President Osman Paksüt, former Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Türk and a number of diplomats serving in Ankara.

The French national day, commonly called Bastille Day, is celebrated on July 14 each year and commemorates the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, the event that marked the beginning of the French Revolution.

2011-07-15

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