Tweet
IN TIGHTER GRIP: TURKEY'S FOREIGN MINISTRY IS CHALLENGED WITH END-OF-YEAR ARMENIAN ISSUES
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
15.12.11 | 16:45
On December 22 the National Assembly of France will put to voting
the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial and making it
punishable with imprisonment and a fine. After the voting the bill
will be submitted to the French Senate.
The Turkish foreign ministry immediately voiced its objections.
Stating that the bill "happens to be on the parliament agenda of
France in the pre-election campaign period" the Turkish foreign
ministry statement says: "The French authorities know how sensitive
our country is to that very serious issue. In the period when the
possibilities of Turkey-France cooperation can enter a stage of stable
development such initiatives can have a negative outcome."
The statement also reads that "the party that has initiated it will
be responsible for the consequences".
Hence, Ankara is practically threatening Paris with negative
consequences for the bilateral relations.
Earlier this year the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a religious
freedom measure, HR306 approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee in
July, calling upon Turkey to return the Christian church properties
it stole through genocide and to end its repression of the surviving
members of the vast Christian civilizations that once represented a
majority in the territory of the present-day Turkey.
The importance of this document approved in Washington is that the
United States' legislative power is continuing the process despite
the fact that after the Foreign Affairs Committee's approval in July
Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdoan signed a decree on return of
Christian church property confiscated after the 1930s.
Congressman Royce's statement is of interest, in this respect:
"Despite Prime Minister Erdogan's recent claims of progress on
religious freedom, Turkey's Christian communities continue to face
severe discrimination."
All these essentially irreversible processes show that history keeps
tightening its grip over Turkey, despite her fierce resistance. And
not only history - this country is finding herself in a not less
tighter grip of also modern times.
On the other hand, all of it fits into political pragmatism, matching
the historic truth. Campaign vows and promises to Armenian communities
in countries like the United States and France lead to apparently
tangible and substantial progress in the process of international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and criminalization of its denial.
The issue is whether the Diaspora and the Armenian state will be able
to use it to their best advantage.
Information was released on December 13 about the decision of
attorneys general of four American states who had joined their
Californian colleague Kamala Harris supporting the constitutionality
of California's Armenian Genocide Life Insurance Recovery Act and
reaffirming an earlier ruling by a 3-member panel of the same court.
It became known also that a session of the Israeli Knesset's Committee
on Education, Culture and Sports is scheduled for late December to
discuss the Armenian Genocide recognition issue. And, to top it all,
the Israeli foreign ministry, too, will announce its position on
the issue.
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
15.12.11 | 16:45
On December 22 the National Assembly of France will put to voting
the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial and making it
punishable with imprisonment and a fine. After the voting the bill
will be submitted to the French Senate.
The Turkish foreign ministry immediately voiced its objections.
Stating that the bill "happens to be on the parliament agenda of
France in the pre-election campaign period" the Turkish foreign
ministry statement says: "The French authorities know how sensitive
our country is to that very serious issue. In the period when the
possibilities of Turkey-France cooperation can enter a stage of stable
development such initiatives can have a negative outcome."
The statement also reads that "the party that has initiated it will
be responsible for the consequences".
Hence, Ankara is practically threatening Paris with negative
consequences for the bilateral relations.
Earlier this year the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a religious
freedom measure, HR306 approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee in
July, calling upon Turkey to return the Christian church properties
it stole through genocide and to end its repression of the surviving
members of the vast Christian civilizations that once represented a
majority in the territory of the present-day Turkey.
The importance of this document approved in Washington is that the
United States' legislative power is continuing the process despite
the fact that after the Foreign Affairs Committee's approval in July
Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdoan signed a decree on return of
Christian church property confiscated after the 1930s.
Congressman Royce's statement is of interest, in this respect:
"Despite Prime Minister Erdogan's recent claims of progress on
religious freedom, Turkey's Christian communities continue to face
severe discrimination."
All these essentially irreversible processes show that history keeps
tightening its grip over Turkey, despite her fierce resistance. And
not only history - this country is finding herself in a not less
tighter grip of also modern times.
On the other hand, all of it fits into political pragmatism, matching
the historic truth. Campaign vows and promises to Armenian communities
in countries like the United States and France lead to apparently
tangible and substantial progress in the process of international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide and criminalization of its denial.
The issue is whether the Diaspora and the Armenian state will be able
to use it to their best advantage.
Information was released on December 13 about the decision of
attorneys general of four American states who had joined their
Californian colleague Kamala Harris supporting the constitutionality
of California's Armenian Genocide Life Insurance Recovery Act and
reaffirming an earlier ruling by a 3-member panel of the same court.
It became known also that a session of the Israeli Knesset's Committee
on Education, Culture and Sports is scheduled for late December to
discuss the Armenian Genocide recognition issue. And, to top it all,
the Israeli foreign ministry, too, will announce its position on
the issue.