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TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OVER BILL ON SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Hurriyet, Turkey
May 4 2006
France was warned by Turkey on Wednesday that bilateral ties could
suffer if the French Parliament adopts a bill that would criminalize
any denial that Armenians massacred during World War I were victims
of genocide."In our meetings (with French officials), we stress that
adoption of the bill could lead to irreparable damage in long-standing
Turkish-French ties and that this should not be allowed," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a news conference here.
Tan said Ankara is doing everything it can to block the bill, adding
that the French government is doing the same.
The bill, expected to be voted on later this month, provides for one
year's imprisonment and a $57,000 fine for denying Armenians were
victims of genocide, Turkish press reports said.
If adopted, it will follow a 2001 French decision that infuriated
Turkey by acknowledging that the mass killings in the dying days of
the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 by Turks, as the Ottoman
Empire was falling apart.
Turkey categorically rejects the claims, saying 300,000 Armenians
and at least as many Turks died in civil strife.
Hurriyet, Turkey
May 4 2006
France was warned by Turkey on Wednesday that bilateral ties could
suffer if the French Parliament adopts a bill that would criminalize
any denial that Armenians massacred during World War I were victims
of genocide."In our meetings (with French officials), we stress that
adoption of the bill could lead to irreparable damage in long-standing
Turkish-French ties and that this should not be allowed," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a news conference here.
Tan said Ankara is doing everything it can to block the bill, adding
that the French government is doing the same.
The bill, expected to be voted on later this month, provides for one
year's imprisonment and a $57,000 fine for denying Armenians were
victims of genocide, Turkish press reports said.
If adopted, it will follow a 2001 French decision that infuriated
Turkey by acknowledging that the mass killings in the dying days of
the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 by Turks, as the Ottoman
Empire was falling apart.
Turkey categorically rejects the claims, saying 300,000 Armenians
and at least as many Turks died in civil strife.