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TURKEY IN FULL-COURT PRESS AGAINST FRANCE
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-in-full-court-press-against-france.aspx?pageID=238&nID=9497&NewsCatID=338
Dec 19 2011
Turkey
Turkish lawmakers as well as business leaders will put more pressure
on Paris this week to block the passage of a bill punishing the denial
of Armenian 'genocide.' Turkey's main opposition party also plans to
lobby against the bill, while Turkish PM Erdogan calls on France to
shed light on its 'dirty, bloody history'
This file photo shows French President Sarkozy (L) and his Armenian
counterpart Sarkisian laying flowers at the Armenian Genocide
Memorial in Yerevan. AP photo Turkish lawmakers and business leaders
are preparing to run a full-court diplomatic press against France to
prevent the adoption of a controversial law penalizing the denial of
Armenian genocide claims.
A delegation led by Volkan Bozk覺r, head of Parliament's Foreign
Relations Committee, will launch a three-day campaign in Paris today
where he will express the Turkish legislature's unease to French
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and other senior French lawmakers and
officials.
A vote on the bill is expected to take place Dec. 22.
Bozk覺r's meeting will also include Jean-Marc Ayrault, head of the
Socialist Group at the French Parliament, and Michel Diefenbacher,
head of the Turkish-French Friendship Group. Bozk覺r will also meet
French Parliament Speaker Bernard Accoyer and French President Nicholas
Sarkozy's foreign policy adviser, Jean-David Levitte, on Dec. 20.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is also planning
to send a delegation to Paris today. Osman Koruturk, a lawmaker from
the CHP who was Turkey's ambassador to France between 2005 and 2009,
and Haluk Koc, will lobby against the bill in Paris.
France "will make another historical mistake" if it approves the bill,
CHP deputy leader Faruk Logoglu said in New York on the sidelines of
a meeting.
This week's diplomatic campaign comes after the Turkish government
warned France of serious repercussions should the law, which would
entail a year-long jail sentence and a 45,000-euro fine for individuals
who deny the genocide claims, be passed. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Cicek sent letters late last
week urging their counterparts to recognize that "there will be grave
consequences if the bill is adopted."
Erdogan intensified his message against the French initiative on Dec.
17 saying: "There were reports France was responsible for the deaths of
45,000 people in Algeria in 1945 and for the massacre of up to 800,000
people in Rwanda in 1994. No historian, no politician can see genocide
in our history. Those who want to see genocide should turn around
and look at their own dirty and bloody history. The French National
Assembly should shed light on Algeria; it should shed light on Rwanda."
Turkey has already announced it will withdraw its ambassador in Paris
if the bill is adopted and said the move would seriously damage
bilateral ties. Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bag覺癬_, meanwhile,
drew attention to Dec. 22, the day French Parliament is set to vote
on the bill, saying it was the anniversary of the assassination of
a Turkish diplomat at the hands of the outlawed Armenian Secret Army
for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) in 1979.
Bag覺癬_ called on France to apologize to Turkey for failing to
protect the Turkish diplomat instead of initiating such "unwise"
moves in parliament.
France is among the countries that have recognized the mass killings
of Armenians during the World War I at the hands of Ottoman Empire as
"genocide."
Business leaders in action
As well as lawmakers and diplomats, Turkey's business leaders will
unite against the bill in Paris this week. Representatives of the
influential Union of Chambers of Commodity Exchange of Turkey (TOBB)
and the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUS襤AD) will hold
meetings with their counterparts in Paris today and ask them to stand
against the bill to prevent any damage to economic ties. Turkish
business leaders will visit top French business associations like
the Medef and ICC.
"There are 960 French companies who have investments in Turkey. We
have mobilized them against the bill with concerns the motion will
damage their investments," TOBB Chairman Rifat Hisarc覺kl覺oglu said
over the weekend.
A TOBB board member also warned the adoption of the bill would result
in an entire boycott of French products in Turkey. "If this law is
adopted, it will have consequences not only in political and economic
fields, but also in scientific, social, cultural and humanitarian
dimensions," Mustafa Yard覺mc覺 said in a written statement yesterday.
December/19/2011
Box: Speaking in Konya at a meeting of the Reform Monitoring Group,
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu slammed the bill and argued the
European Union should start monitoring the "freedom of expression
in France."
The minister appealed to French intellectuals and civic society to
defend freedom of speech in the country, stressing "European values
are under threat in France."
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-in-full-court-press-against-france.aspx?pageID=238&nID=9497&NewsCatID=338
Dec 19 2011
Turkey
Turkish lawmakers as well as business leaders will put more pressure
on Paris this week to block the passage of a bill punishing the denial
of Armenian 'genocide.' Turkey's main opposition party also plans to
lobby against the bill, while Turkish PM Erdogan calls on France to
shed light on its 'dirty, bloody history'
This file photo shows French President Sarkozy (L) and his Armenian
counterpart Sarkisian laying flowers at the Armenian Genocide
Memorial in Yerevan. AP photo Turkish lawmakers and business leaders
are preparing to run a full-court diplomatic press against France to
prevent the adoption of a controversial law penalizing the denial of
Armenian genocide claims.
A delegation led by Volkan Bozk覺r, head of Parliament's Foreign
Relations Committee, will launch a three-day campaign in Paris today
where he will express the Turkish legislature's unease to French
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and other senior French lawmakers and
officials.
A vote on the bill is expected to take place Dec. 22.
Bozk覺r's meeting will also include Jean-Marc Ayrault, head of the
Socialist Group at the French Parliament, and Michel Diefenbacher,
head of the Turkish-French Friendship Group. Bozk覺r will also meet
French Parliament Speaker Bernard Accoyer and French President Nicholas
Sarkozy's foreign policy adviser, Jean-David Levitte, on Dec. 20.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is also planning
to send a delegation to Paris today. Osman Koruturk, a lawmaker from
the CHP who was Turkey's ambassador to France between 2005 and 2009,
and Haluk Koc, will lobby against the bill in Paris.
France "will make another historical mistake" if it approves the bill,
CHP deputy leader Faruk Logoglu said in New York on the sidelines of
a meeting.
This week's diplomatic campaign comes after the Turkish government
warned France of serious repercussions should the law, which would
entail a year-long jail sentence and a 45,000-euro fine for individuals
who deny the genocide claims, be passed. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Cicek sent letters late last
week urging their counterparts to recognize that "there will be grave
consequences if the bill is adopted."
Erdogan intensified his message against the French initiative on Dec.
17 saying: "There were reports France was responsible for the deaths of
45,000 people in Algeria in 1945 and for the massacre of up to 800,000
people in Rwanda in 1994. No historian, no politician can see genocide
in our history. Those who want to see genocide should turn around
and look at their own dirty and bloody history. The French National
Assembly should shed light on Algeria; it should shed light on Rwanda."
Turkey has already announced it will withdraw its ambassador in Paris
if the bill is adopted and said the move would seriously damage
bilateral ties. Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bag覺癬_, meanwhile,
drew attention to Dec. 22, the day French Parliament is set to vote
on the bill, saying it was the anniversary of the assassination of
a Turkish diplomat at the hands of the outlawed Armenian Secret Army
for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) in 1979.
Bag覺癬_ called on France to apologize to Turkey for failing to
protect the Turkish diplomat instead of initiating such "unwise"
moves in parliament.
France is among the countries that have recognized the mass killings
of Armenians during the World War I at the hands of Ottoman Empire as
"genocide."
Business leaders in action
As well as lawmakers and diplomats, Turkey's business leaders will
unite against the bill in Paris this week. Representatives of the
influential Union of Chambers of Commodity Exchange of Turkey (TOBB)
and the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUS襤AD) will hold
meetings with their counterparts in Paris today and ask them to stand
against the bill to prevent any damage to economic ties. Turkish
business leaders will visit top French business associations like
the Medef and ICC.
"There are 960 French companies who have investments in Turkey. We
have mobilized them against the bill with concerns the motion will
damage their investments," TOBB Chairman Rifat Hisarc覺kl覺oglu said
over the weekend.
A TOBB board member also warned the adoption of the bill would result
in an entire boycott of French products in Turkey. "If this law is
adopted, it will have consequences not only in political and economic
fields, but also in scientific, social, cultural and humanitarian
dimensions," Mustafa Yard覺mc覺 said in a written statement yesterday.
December/19/2011
Box: Speaking in Konya at a meeting of the Reform Monitoring Group,
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu slammed the bill and argued the
European Union should start monitoring the "freedom of expression
in France."
The minister appealed to French intellectuals and civic society to
defend freedom of speech in the country, stressing "European values
are under threat in France."
From: A. Papazian