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VoA: Turkey In Genocide Dispute With NATO Allies

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  • VoA: Turkey In Genocide Dispute With NATO Allies

    TURKEY IN GENOCIDE DISPUTE WITH NATO ALLIES
    By Amberin Zaman

    Voice of America
    May 11 2006

    Turkey has pulled out of a NATO military exercise in Canada and is
    considering sanctions against France for supporting Armenians who
    want the mass slaughter of their kin by Ottoman-Turk forces during
    and after World War I recognized as genocide.

    Members of Turkey's Workers' Party hold banners reading 'The genocide
    lie is an American game'. A senior Turkish foreign ministry official
    confirmed Turkey would not be participating in an air force training
    exercise in Canada.

    Turkey's withdrawal is the latest in a series of moves aimed at
    conveying Ankara's anger over Canadian policy.

    Turkey recalled its ambassador last week after Canada's prime minister,
    Stephen Harper, characterized the mass slaughter of hundreds of
    thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks as genocide.

    Mr. Harper's comments came as the French parliament prepares to debate
    a bill that would criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide and
    the Jewish Holocaust following World War II.

    Critics of the bill, which was introduced by the Socialist bloc, say
    it is calculated to win votes from France's 800,000 strong Armenian
    community in elections scheduled for next year. The French move has
    broader ramifications as France is one of the most powerful members
    of the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join.

    Turkey has always denied that a genocide took place, but there are
    mounting calls from within the European Union to change its policy of
    denial as a condition for membership. Many Turks see such pressure as
    further evidence that the European Union does not want a poor Muslim
    country within its ranks.

    But despite the Ankara government's tough rhetoric, including veiled
    threats of economic sanctions against France, public debate on the
    fate of the Ottoman Armenians is growing in Turkey. Some prominent
    Turkish academics have gone as far as to say that the mass killings
    did amount to genocide.

    But even these intellectuals say they are opposed to France's efforts
    to criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide. They argue that such
    laws can only help to vindicate similar laws in Turkey that penalize
    Turks who dare to utter the word genocide in discussions of the fate
    of the Armenians after World War I.
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