Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: Genocide Bill At French Constitutional Commission

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANKARA: Genocide Bill At French Constitutional Commission

    GENOCIDE BILL AT FRENCH CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION
    By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris

    Zaman, Turkey
    May 10 2006

    The controversial bid to penalize those who deny the so-called genocide
    in France will be discussed at the French National Parliament's
    Constitutional Commission today.

    The motion, expected to be discussed at the National Parliament on
    May 18, needs to be approved by the Senate as well to become a law.

    If the motion passes, those denying the existence of the so-called
    genocide may be fined 45,000 euros and sentenced to one-year in
    prison. The French Foreign Ministry in a statement yesterday said
    "they are following the developments carefully" concerning Turkey's
    reaction. The bill prepared by the main opposition Socialist Party
    (SP) needs to pass the commission in order to reach the parliament.

    Last month, the SP decided to bring the bill to the parliament by
    using its "right to determine agenda" given to French parties in
    proportion to the number of deputies. Five other bills prepared by
    parliamentarians from the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and
    the SP in this frame were unable to be included on the parliamentary
    agenda since 2001. The right to determine the agenda, which normally
    belongs to the government, will be invoked by the SP on May 18.

    A Turkish split in the SP

    Jean Marc Ayrault, the Socialists' house leader, that party that
    prepared the bill, does not hide his concern about the draft.

    Ayrault, warning that the bill will be a "source of chaos and
    difficulty," stresses the offer came to the agenda as "a result of
    big pressure from the party."

    The left-leaning newspaper Liberation wrote that the bill deepened
    the crisis between France and Turkey.

    Liberation estimates Ankara harshly reacted to the proposed law when
    it recalled Ambassador to France Osman Koruturk "to discuss the issue,"
    and "is getting harsher against France."

    The article cites the boycotting of French goods and excluding of
    French companies from public tenders came to the agenda in Turkey,
    and those who criticize the bill, mostly Turkish intellectuals such
    as Baskin Oran, are struggling against official history. Marc Semo,
    the newspaper's expert on Turkey who wrote the article, maintains that
    although the majority of historians accept it, Ankara still rejects
    the so-called genocide. In the event the bill passes, Turkish-French
    relationships, which almost stopped in 2001 due to the Armenian issue,
    are again expected to undergo a second crisis.
Working...
X