Tweet
TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OVER ARMENIAN 'GENOCIDE LAW'
By Jon Hemming
Cyprus Mail
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/armenian-genocide/turkey-warns-france-over-armenian-genocide-law/20111216
Dec 16 2011
TURKEY warned France todayr political and economic relations would
suffer grave consequences if the French parliament passed a draft
law making it illegal to deny the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire was genocide.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a vocal critic of Turkey's
long-standing, but slow-moving bid to join the European Union, told
Turkey in October that unless it recognised the killings as genocide,
France would consider making denial a crime.
The draft law, put forward by a deputy from Sarkozy's party, is due
to go before parliament next Thursday and proposes a one-year prison
sentence and 45,000 euro fine for denying the killings constitute
genocide.
"This proposed law targets and is hostile to the Republic of Turkey,
the Turkish nation and the Turkish community living in France,"
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wrote in a letter to Sarkozy.
"I want to state clearly that such steps will have grave consequences
for future relations between Turkey and France in political, economic,
cultural and all areas and the responsibility will rest with those
behind this initiative," said the letter quoted by the state-run
Anatolian news agency.
France is Turkey's fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest
country from which it imports goods and services.
Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says some 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by
the Ottoman government.
Ankara denies the killings constitute genocide and says many Muslim
Turks and Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded
eastern Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.
The French Foreign Ministry stressed the draft law was not a government
initiative.
"Turkey is a key ally and partner for France. We attach the highest
value to our relations with Ankara, particularly on international
and regional affairs," said ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.
Erdogan said common sense should prevail over political calculations,
a hint the draft law was aimed at securing the support of 500,000
French voters of Armenian descent in elections due in five months time.
"Turkish-French relations should not be held captive by the demands of
third parties," Erdogan said. "This is a sensitive, serious subject."
Turkey and Armenia signed a peace accord in 2009, agreeing to set up
a commission of international experts to examine the events of 1915,
restore diplomatic ties and open their border to trade, but neither
side has ratified the deal.
Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993 over Yerevan's backing for
Armenian separatists fighting Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan for control of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Erdogan said at the time the deal with Armenia would
only go ahead if the frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was resolved.
Turkey has increasingly flexed its rising economic and political muscle
on the world stage and in the Middle East as its economy continues
to show strong growth while Western Europe suffers a financial crisis.
From: A. Papazian
By Jon Hemming
Cyprus Mail
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/armenian-genocide/turkey-warns-france-over-armenian-genocide-law/20111216
Dec 16 2011
TURKEY warned France todayr political and economic relations would
suffer grave consequences if the French parliament passed a draft
law making it illegal to deny the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire was genocide.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a vocal critic of Turkey's
long-standing, but slow-moving bid to join the European Union, told
Turkey in October that unless it recognised the killings as genocide,
France would consider making denial a crime.
The draft law, put forward by a deputy from Sarkozy's party, is due
to go before parliament next Thursday and proposes a one-year prison
sentence and 45,000 euro fine for denying the killings constitute
genocide.
"This proposed law targets and is hostile to the Republic of Turkey,
the Turkish nation and the Turkish community living in France,"
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wrote in a letter to Sarkozy.
"I want to state clearly that such steps will have grave consequences
for future relations between Turkey and France in political, economic,
cultural and all areas and the responsibility will rest with those
behind this initiative," said the letter quoted by the state-run
Anatolian news agency.
France is Turkey's fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest
country from which it imports goods and services.
Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says some 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by
the Ottoman government.
Ankara denies the killings constitute genocide and says many Muslim
Turks and Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded
eastern Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.
The French Foreign Ministry stressed the draft law was not a government
initiative.
"Turkey is a key ally and partner for France. We attach the highest
value to our relations with Ankara, particularly on international
and regional affairs," said ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.
Erdogan said common sense should prevail over political calculations,
a hint the draft law was aimed at securing the support of 500,000
French voters of Armenian descent in elections due in five months time.
"Turkish-French relations should not be held captive by the demands of
third parties," Erdogan said. "This is a sensitive, serious subject."
Turkey and Armenia signed a peace accord in 2009, agreeing to set up
a commission of international experts to examine the events of 1915,
restore diplomatic ties and open their border to trade, but neither
side has ratified the deal.
Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993 over Yerevan's backing for
Armenian separatists fighting Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan for control of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Erdogan said at the time the deal with Armenia would
only go ahead if the frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was resolved.
Turkey has increasingly flexed its rising economic and political muscle
on the world stage and in the Middle East as its economy continues
to show strong growth while Western Europe suffers a financial crisis.
From: A. Papazian