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Sabah, Turkey
Dec 16 2011
Turkey issues France a warning
Turkey warned France on Friday that their political and economic
relations would suffer grave consequences if the French parliament
passed a draft law making it illegal to deny the Aremnian allegations
of a 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
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 recognized the Armenian allegations',
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 week and proposes a one-year prison sentence
and 45,000 euro fine for denying the Armenian allegations.
"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 ErdoÄ?an 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," stated the letter.
Armenians says some 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in
what is now eastern Turkey during World War One. Ankara denies the
killings were directed at Armenians and says many Muslim Turks and
Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded eastern
Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.
"Turkish-French relations should not be held captive by the demands of
third parties," ErdoÄ?an said. "This is a sensitive, serious subject."
ErdoÄ?an said common sense should come before 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.
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.
http://english.sabah.com.tr/National/2011/12/16/turkey-issues-france-a-warning
Dec 16 2011
Turkey issues France a warning
Turkey warned France on Friday that their political and economic
relations would suffer grave consequences if the French parliament
passed a draft law making it illegal to deny the Aremnian allegations
of a 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
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 recognized the Armenian allegations',
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 week and proposes a one-year prison sentence
and 45,000 euro fine for denying the Armenian allegations.
"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 ErdoÄ?an 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," stated the letter.
Armenians says some 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in
what is now eastern Turkey during World War One. Ankara denies the
killings were directed at Armenians and says many Muslim Turks and
Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded eastern
Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.
"Turkish-French relations should not be held captive by the demands of
third parties," ErdoÄ?an said. "This is a sensitive, serious subject."
ErdoÄ?an said common sense should come before 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.
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.
http://english.sabah.com.tr/National/2011/12/16/turkey-issues-france-a-warning