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The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 12 2006
AKP discusses recognition of Algerian 'genocide'
A ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy on Wednesday
opened a draft bill for signatures that aims at Turkey's recognition
of a French massacre of 200,000 Algerians between 1954 and 1962 as
"genocide."
The move mirrors the French Parliament's current discussions on a
bill that aims to punish those who question Armenian genocide claims
with prison time.
"The rationale of the Algerian draft bill underlines the French
double standards in denying crimes in Algeria and Rwanda and closing
its archives on the one hand, and not hesitating to move on a law
dictating imprisonment for those who question Armenian genocide
claims," a source from the AK Party told The New Anatolian yesterday.
Although the draft bill succeeded in winning some support from AK
Party deputies, other members of the ruling party opposed bringing
such a bill to Parliament's discussion floor, saying that
controversial historic issues should be discussed by historians not
parliaments. Opponents of the draft bill also say this contradicts
the Turkish position on the Armenian genocide claims.
The Algerian draft bill is expected to be discussed at an AK Party
group meeting on Tuesday and if approved will be brought to
Parliament.
Turkey has always opposed the debates that have taken place in many
European parliaments on the Armenian genocide claims, some of which
voted for recognition, saying that history should be left to studies
and interpretation by scholars.
In line with the Turkish thesis, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
suggested to Armenian President Robert Kocharian the establishment of
committees composed of Turkish and Armenian historians to study the
controversial events of 1915. Kocharian refused the suggestion,
saying that historian committees could only be established within the
process of a normalization of relations between the two countries.
French massacre of Algerians
The 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence cost the lives of 1.5
million Algerians, according to the Algerian government, but French
figures for the same period show that just 200,000 were killed.
According to Algerian sources, Muslims were systematically killed at
the time. Senior French officers who fought in Algeria recently
confessed that torture and summary executions were routine grisly
instruments of French warfare. President Jacques Chirac, however,
fiercely opposed a parliamentary inquiry into the killings and said
it is a subject best left for historians to explore.
The Algerian archives were taken to France, and the French archives
for that period are off-limits to historians carrying out genocide
research.
Although the Algerian government has been seeking an apology from
France for its massacre of Algerians and other crimes committed while
the French were the country's colonial rulers, besides not
apologizing, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy last month
warned Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika not to overuse the
term "genocide."
Algeria and France were last year preparing to sign a friendship
treaty, similar to the 1963 Franco-German reconciliation treaty, as
part of efforts to normalize their relations. It was blocked,
however, by the French Parliament's approval of a law that included a
reference to the "positive role of the French presence overseas,
especially in North Africa," which provoked a strong reaction from
Algeria.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
May 12 2006
AKP discusses recognition of Algerian 'genocide'
A ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy on Wednesday
opened a draft bill for signatures that aims at Turkey's recognition
of a French massacre of 200,000 Algerians between 1954 and 1962 as
"genocide."
The move mirrors the French Parliament's current discussions on a
bill that aims to punish those who question Armenian genocide claims
with prison time.
"The rationale of the Algerian draft bill underlines the French
double standards in denying crimes in Algeria and Rwanda and closing
its archives on the one hand, and not hesitating to move on a law
dictating imprisonment for those who question Armenian genocide
claims," a source from the AK Party told The New Anatolian yesterday.
Although the draft bill succeeded in winning some support from AK
Party deputies, other members of the ruling party opposed bringing
such a bill to Parliament's discussion floor, saying that
controversial historic issues should be discussed by historians not
parliaments. Opponents of the draft bill also say this contradicts
the Turkish position on the Armenian genocide claims.
The Algerian draft bill is expected to be discussed at an AK Party
group meeting on Tuesday and if approved will be brought to
Parliament.
Turkey has always opposed the debates that have taken place in many
European parliaments on the Armenian genocide claims, some of which
voted for recognition, saying that history should be left to studies
and interpretation by scholars.
In line with the Turkish thesis, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
suggested to Armenian President Robert Kocharian the establishment of
committees composed of Turkish and Armenian historians to study the
controversial events of 1915. Kocharian refused the suggestion,
saying that historian committees could only be established within the
process of a normalization of relations between the two countries.
French massacre of Algerians
The 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence cost the lives of 1.5
million Algerians, according to the Algerian government, but French
figures for the same period show that just 200,000 were killed.
According to Algerian sources, Muslims were systematically killed at
the time. Senior French officers who fought in Algeria recently
confessed that torture and summary executions were routine grisly
instruments of French warfare. President Jacques Chirac, however,
fiercely opposed a parliamentary inquiry into the killings and said
it is a subject best left for historians to explore.
The Algerian archives were taken to France, and the French archives
for that period are off-limits to historians carrying out genocide
research.
Although the Algerian government has been seeking an apology from
France for its massacre of Algerians and other crimes committed while
the French were the country's colonial rulers, besides not
apologizing, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy last month
warned Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika not to overuse the
term "genocide."
Algeria and France were last year preparing to sign a friendship
treaty, similar to the 1963 Franco-German reconciliation treaty, as
part of efforts to normalize their relations. It was blocked,
however, by the French Parliament's approval of a law that included a
reference to the "positive role of the French presence overseas,
especially in North Africa," which provoked a strong reaction from
Algeria.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress