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TURKEY TO RECALL AMBASSADOR IF FRANCE BANS GENOCIDE DENIAL
Agence France Presse
December 15, 2011 Thursday 10:04 PM GMT
Turkey will recall its ambassador and freeze ties with Paris if French
lawmakers approve a bill banning the denial of the Armenian genocide
next week, he told AFP on Thursday.
"There will be irreparable consequences in all bilateral relations,"
ambassador Engin Solakoglu said, adding he expected to be called back
to Ankara for an indefinite period from December 22.
That is when France's National Assembly is expected to pass a law
banning the denial of the 1915 to 1916 massacre, which Armenians
regard as a deliberate genocide while Turks argue the deaths were a
side-effect of war.
France, which has a large population of Armenian descent, has
recognised the event as genocide since 2001, but the bill proposed by a
member of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Enhanced Coverage LinkingNicolas
Sarkozy's -Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60
Daysmajority party has strained ties with Ankara.
"Turkey considers this a hostile act by the French executive,"
Solakoglu told AFP. "All cooperation with the French government,
all joint projects, will be frozen."
The French foreign ministry refused to directly comment on the threat,
but spokesman Bernard Valero said: "Turkey is an important friend
and ally."
French business leaders based in Turkey said they had been summoned
by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who asked them to put pressure
on their boards.
The minister reportedly warned of drastic consequences on their
businesses should they fail to ensure the bill is shelved or rejected.
Several hundred French firms operate out of Turkey, including leading
car manufacturers and insurance companies.
A Turkish parliamentary delegation, led by its foreign affairs
committee chief Volkan Bozkir, is due in Paris on Monday to lobby
officials in a last minute bid to head off Thursday's vote.
If the law is passed as expected, anyone in France who publicy denies
the genocide could face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros
($58,000).
Most historians agree that between 500,000 and 1.5 million Armenians
died in a series of massacres and deportations from Asia Minor in
the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire in 1915 and 1916.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were killed during
World War I by forces belonging to Turkey's former Ottoman Empire.
Turkey refuses to call the killings a genocide and says 300,000 to
500,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks, died in combat or of
starvation when Armenians rose up and sided with invading Russian
forces.
Sarkozy has called on Turkey to recognise the killings as genocide
and in the past promised his country's large Armenian community to
support a law criminalising its denial.
Modern day Armenia, now independent, and around 20 countries regard
the killings as genocide.
Sarkozy's government has had tense relations with Ankara on other
issues. Paris opposes Turkey's bid to join the European Union and
has worked to block the process within Brussels institutions.
Agence France Presse
December 15, 2011 Thursday 10:04 PM GMT
Turkey will recall its ambassador and freeze ties with Paris if French
lawmakers approve a bill banning the denial of the Armenian genocide
next week, he told AFP on Thursday.
"There will be irreparable consequences in all bilateral relations,"
ambassador Engin Solakoglu said, adding he expected to be called back
to Ankara for an indefinite period from December 22.
That is when France's National Assembly is expected to pass a law
banning the denial of the 1915 to 1916 massacre, which Armenians
regard as a deliberate genocide while Turks argue the deaths were a
side-effect of war.
France, which has a large population of Armenian descent, has
recognised the event as genocide since 2001, but the bill proposed by a
member of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Enhanced Coverage LinkingNicolas
Sarkozy's -Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60
Daysmajority party has strained ties with Ankara.
"Turkey considers this a hostile act by the French executive,"
Solakoglu told AFP. "All cooperation with the French government,
all joint projects, will be frozen."
The French foreign ministry refused to directly comment on the threat,
but spokesman Bernard Valero said: "Turkey is an important friend
and ally."
French business leaders based in Turkey said they had been summoned
by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who asked them to put pressure
on their boards.
The minister reportedly warned of drastic consequences on their
businesses should they fail to ensure the bill is shelved or rejected.
Several hundred French firms operate out of Turkey, including leading
car manufacturers and insurance companies.
A Turkish parliamentary delegation, led by its foreign affairs
committee chief Volkan Bozkir, is due in Paris on Monday to lobby
officials in a last minute bid to head off Thursday's vote.
If the law is passed as expected, anyone in France who publicy denies
the genocide could face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros
($58,000).
Most historians agree that between 500,000 and 1.5 million Armenians
died in a series of massacres and deportations from Asia Minor in
the Turkish-led Ottoman Empire in 1915 and 1916.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were killed during
World War I by forces belonging to Turkey's former Ottoman Empire.
Turkey refuses to call the killings a genocide and says 300,000 to
500,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks, died in combat or of
starvation when Armenians rose up and sided with invading Russian
forces.
Sarkozy has called on Turkey to recognise the killings as genocide
and in the past promised his country's large Armenian community to
support a law criminalising its denial.
Modern day Armenia, now independent, and around 20 countries regard
the killings as genocide.
Sarkozy's government has had tense relations with Ankara on other
issues. Paris opposes Turkey's bid to join the European Union and
has worked to block the process within Brussels institutions.