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TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OVER GENOCIDE BILL
By MARC CHAMPION
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204553904577101960184548928.html?m od=googlenews_wsj
Dec 16 2011
ISTANBUL-Turkey threatened President Nicolas Sarkozy of France with
retaliation if he signs into law a bill that would make it a crime
to deny that Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire in 1915, the state Anadolu news agency reported Friday.
The French parliament is expected next week to vote on the bill,
which has exacerbated an already frosty relationship between the
French and Turkish governments. While Armenians consider the killing
of up to 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide, Turkey contests
the scale of the losses and says they were casualties of war.
"This issue is a sensitive, a serious one. Common sense should be
held above political calculations. In the light of all these reasons,
I sincerely hope you will keep your word that these kinds of laws would
not be finalized, and that you will prevent steps that have irreparable
(consequences)," Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote
in a letter to the French president, according to Anadolu.
"At this point I want to state openly, that taking these kinds
of steps to a further point will have grave consequences for the
multidimensional relations between Turkey and France, on a political,
economical, cultural and all levels," Mr. Erdogan wrote.
Turkey argues the genocide issue should be left to historians to
decide, rather than legislated by governments.
Mr. Erdogan said in his letter that passage of the law would make
Turkish-French relations "hostage" to a third party, referring to
France's Armenian diaspora. Turkish officials have said repeatedly
that they see the proposed law as an issue of domestic politics in
France, as Mr. Sarkozy and his political party seek to draw votes
from the Armenian community.
On Thursday, Turkish diplomats said that as a first step, Turkey
would recall its ambassador from Paris for consultations, if the law
is passed.
Relations between France and Turkey have been at a low ebb for several
years, in large part due to Mr. Sarkozy's vocal opposition to Turkey's
bid to join the European Union.
The French state has recognized the Armenian genocide since 2001,
but criminalizing its denial would stir deep anger in Turkey. Germany
has a similar law making it illegal to deny the Jewish Holocaust.
From: Baghdasarian
By MARC CHAMPION
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204553904577101960184548928.html?m od=googlenews_wsj
Dec 16 2011
ISTANBUL-Turkey threatened President Nicolas Sarkozy of France with
retaliation if he signs into law a bill that would make it a crime
to deny that Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire in 1915, the state Anadolu news agency reported Friday.
The French parliament is expected next week to vote on the bill,
which has exacerbated an already frosty relationship between the
French and Turkish governments. While Armenians consider the killing
of up to 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide, Turkey contests
the scale of the losses and says they were casualties of war.
"This issue is a sensitive, a serious one. Common sense should be
held above political calculations. In the light of all these reasons,
I sincerely hope you will keep your word that these kinds of laws would
not be finalized, and that you will prevent steps that have irreparable
(consequences)," Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote
in a letter to the French president, according to Anadolu.
"At this point I want to state openly, that taking these kinds
of steps to a further point will have grave consequences for the
multidimensional relations between Turkey and France, on a political,
economical, cultural and all levels," Mr. Erdogan wrote.
Turkey argues the genocide issue should be left to historians to
decide, rather than legislated by governments.
Mr. Erdogan said in his letter that passage of the law would make
Turkish-French relations "hostage" to a third party, referring to
France's Armenian diaspora. Turkish officials have said repeatedly
that they see the proposed law as an issue of domestic politics in
France, as Mr. Sarkozy and his political party seek to draw votes
from the Armenian community.
On Thursday, Turkish diplomats said that as a first step, Turkey
would recall its ambassador from Paris for consultations, if the law
is passed.
Relations between France and Turkey have been at a low ebb for several
years, in large part due to Mr. Sarkozy's vocal opposition to Turkey's
bid to join the European Union.
The French state has recognized the Armenian genocide since 2001,
but criminalizing its denial would stir deep anger in Turkey. Germany
has a similar law making it illegal to deny the Jewish Holocaust.
From: Baghdasarian