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SARKOZY SETS TERMS TO AVOID FRENCH ARMENIA VOTE
Gulf Times, Qatar
Oct 10 2006
Some 500 of the leftist Turkey's Worker Party hold a black wreath
reading "France stop! Massacres of Armenians is a lie" as Turkish
riot police block their way to French Consulate in Istanbul yesterday
PARIS: French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday set three
conditions for Turkey to avoid a vote by French deputies on a bill
making it a crime to deny Armenians suffered genocide at the hands
of Ottoman Turks. Parliament, dominated by the Union for a Popular
Movement that Sarkozy leads, is due on Thursday to discuss an
opposition Socialist bill on Armenian deaths during World War I.
Turkey strongly denies the 1.5mn deaths constitute genocide.
Though the conservative majority in parliament opposes the bill, Turkey
fears many opponents will vote for the bill for fear of upsetting
France's 400,000-strong Armenian diaspora ahead of presidential and
parliamentary elections next year.
Sarkozy, conservative frontrunner for the presidential race and
a long-standing opponent of Turkey's EU entry, said he had set out
conditions for avoiding a vote in a telephone call with Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan.
"The first is that there is a bilateral commission between Armenia and
Turkey which has equal representation, so that these two countries can
conduct the work of acknowledging history," he told France Inter radio.
"The second condition is that Turkey reopen its borders with Armenia.
And the third condition is that Turkey gives up its penal law which
forbids people speaking of the genocide in Turkey."
He said he was not sure whether he had convinced Erdogan but added
that the Turkish premier had taken note of them.
Erdogan on Sunday criticised the bill and Turkish lawmakers warned
last week that illegal Armenian immigrants in Turkey may be expelled
and French trade hurt if the measure were passed.
According to officials at the Turkish prime minister's office, Erdogan
defended Turkey's position in the phone conversation with Sarkozy.
"We are the open and transparent side. We have been unable to receive
the necessary response (from Armenia) to our well-intended proposal
to set up a joint commission, and Article 301 has nothing to do with
this issue," the officials quoted Erdogan as saying.
Article 301 in Turkey's penal code is used to prosecute writers and
journalists for insulting Turkish identity or state institutions. The
EU says the article must be scrapped, but Turkey has asked for
more time.
Ankara strongly denies estimates that 1.5mn Armenians perished at
the hands of Ottoman Turks in a systematic genocide, saying large
numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in a partisan
conflict raging at that time.
Sarkozy also said Turkey was not guaranteed EU entry even if it
accepted calls for it to admit Armenians suffered genocide.
Turkey began its EU entry talks last year, though is not expected to
join for many years. - Reuters.
Gulf Times, Qatar
Oct 10 2006
Some 500 of the leftist Turkey's Worker Party hold a black wreath
reading "France stop! Massacres of Armenians is a lie" as Turkish
riot police block their way to French Consulate in Istanbul yesterday
PARIS: French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday set three
conditions for Turkey to avoid a vote by French deputies on a bill
making it a crime to deny Armenians suffered genocide at the hands
of Ottoman Turks. Parliament, dominated by the Union for a Popular
Movement that Sarkozy leads, is due on Thursday to discuss an
opposition Socialist bill on Armenian deaths during World War I.
Turkey strongly denies the 1.5mn deaths constitute genocide.
Though the conservative majority in parliament opposes the bill, Turkey
fears many opponents will vote for the bill for fear of upsetting
France's 400,000-strong Armenian diaspora ahead of presidential and
parliamentary elections next year.
Sarkozy, conservative frontrunner for the presidential race and
a long-standing opponent of Turkey's EU entry, said he had set out
conditions for avoiding a vote in a telephone call with Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan.
"The first is that there is a bilateral commission between Armenia and
Turkey which has equal representation, so that these two countries can
conduct the work of acknowledging history," he told France Inter radio.
"The second condition is that Turkey reopen its borders with Armenia.
And the third condition is that Turkey gives up its penal law which
forbids people speaking of the genocide in Turkey."
He said he was not sure whether he had convinced Erdogan but added
that the Turkish premier had taken note of them.
Erdogan on Sunday criticised the bill and Turkish lawmakers warned
last week that illegal Armenian immigrants in Turkey may be expelled
and French trade hurt if the measure were passed.
According to officials at the Turkish prime minister's office, Erdogan
defended Turkey's position in the phone conversation with Sarkozy.
"We are the open and transparent side. We have been unable to receive
the necessary response (from Armenia) to our well-intended proposal
to set up a joint commission, and Article 301 has nothing to do with
this issue," the officials quoted Erdogan as saying.
Article 301 in Turkey's penal code is used to prosecute writers and
journalists for insulting Turkish identity or state institutions. The
EU says the article must be scrapped, but Turkey has asked for
more time.
Ankara strongly denies estimates that 1.5mn Armenians perished at
the hands of Ottoman Turks in a systematic genocide, saying large
numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in a partisan
conflict raging at that time.
Sarkozy also said Turkey was not guaranteed EU entry even if it
accepted calls for it to admit Armenians suffered genocide.
Turkey began its EU entry talks last year, though is not expected to
join for many years. - Reuters.