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TURKISH INTELLECTUALS TRIED OVER ARMENIAN ISSUE SLAM FRENCH BILL
Agence France Presse -- English
October 9, 2006 Monday
Six Turkish intellectuals prosecuted in the past for comments on the
Armenian massacre have condemned a French bill that would criminalise
any denial that the killings under the Ottoman Empire constitute
genocide, according to a press report Monday.
"Writing history is not the job of states or politicians," said
novelist Elif Shafak, one of the authors quoted in Monday's edition
of the liberal daily Radikal.
"I consider what is happening in France as a negative development
that leaves progressives and democrats in both France and Turkey in
a difficult situation," wrote Shafak, who was recently acquitted of
"denigrating the national identity" in a novel dealing with the
1915-1917 massacres.
The bill, submitted by the French Socialist Party and apparently
backed by many governing conservatives as well, provides for up to
one year in jail and a 45,000-euro fine (57,000 dollars) for anyone
who says the killings were not genocide.
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, hit by one six-month suspended
sentence for his writings on the Armenian question and again on trial
for calling the killings genocide, said the bill was "stupid."
"This type of law undermines any debate between Turks and Armenians,"
said Dink, edior of the bilingual Turkish Armenian weekly newspaper
Agos. "Turkish and Armenian people need to dialogue, to discuss their
common history."
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
the dying days of the Ottoman Empire in a planned "genocide". Turks
say massacres were committed on both sides during World War I and
categorically reject the genocide label.
Agence France Presse -- English
October 9, 2006 Monday
Six Turkish intellectuals prosecuted in the past for comments on the
Armenian massacre have condemned a French bill that would criminalise
any denial that the killings under the Ottoman Empire constitute
genocide, according to a press report Monday.
"Writing history is not the job of states or politicians," said
novelist Elif Shafak, one of the authors quoted in Monday's edition
of the liberal daily Radikal.
"I consider what is happening in France as a negative development
that leaves progressives and democrats in both France and Turkey in
a difficult situation," wrote Shafak, who was recently acquitted of
"denigrating the national identity" in a novel dealing with the
1915-1917 massacres.
The bill, submitted by the French Socialist Party and apparently
backed by many governing conservatives as well, provides for up to
one year in jail and a 45,000-euro fine (57,000 dollars) for anyone
who says the killings were not genocide.
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, hit by one six-month suspended
sentence for his writings on the Armenian question and again on trial
for calling the killings genocide, said the bill was "stupid."
"This type of law undermines any debate between Turks and Armenians,"
said Dink, edior of the bilingual Turkish Armenian weekly newspaper
Agos. "Turkish and Armenian people need to dialogue, to discuss their
common history."
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
the dying days of the Ottoman Empire in a planned "genocide". Turks
say massacres were committed on both sides during World War I and
categorically reject the genocide label.