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TURKEY TO FRANCE: BLOCK GENOCIDE BILL, OR ELSE
Dorian Jones
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Turkey-to-France-Block-Genocide-Bill-or-Else-135883908.html
Dec 19 2011
Ankara is continuing to ratchet up tensions with Paris over a proposed
French law to criminalize denial of claims that Turkey's mass killings
of Armenians before and during World War I constitute genocide.
Ankara, which rejects the charge of genocide and argues the widespread
killings of its Armenian minority occurred during civil strife in
which many Turks died as well, dispatched a high-level delegation of
parliamentarians in a last-minute bid to lobby against the proposed
law.
Historians say up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and several
countries recognize the killings as genocide. Under the proposed
French legislation, denying the genocide would be punishable by up
to one year in prison along with a $58,000 fine.
On Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched
a stinging attack on France, saying that no historian or politician
can see genocide in Turkish history, and that those who do want to
see genocide should turn around and look at their own "dirty and
bloody history."
Relations between Turkey and France are already tense in connection
with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's strong opposition to Ankara's
bid to join the European Union. Erdogan last week reportedly sent
a letter to Sarkozy warning of dire consequences if the legislation
passes.
Diplomatic correspondent Semih Idiz of the Turkish newspaper Milliyet
warns such threats should be taken seriously.
"I think it is serious, I think that the government will make a big
issue out of this - [it] is not one that they can afford to let go
by," he says. "In terms of public opinion, this is one of [the] most
[touchy] of issues for Turks, and you cannot just take it lightly."
Opposition to the genocide claim is one of the few issues that unite
Turkey's normally polarized main political parties.
The main opposition People's Republican Party is due to send its own
deputies to Paris to lobby against the controversial legislation,
and the leader of the National Action party, Devlet Bahceli, strongly
backs Erdogan's tough stance against Paris.
With such cross-party support, the potential repercussions to
French-Turkish relations are expected to be severe. Turkish officials
have said their ambassador to France, Tahsin Burcuoglu, will be
recalled if the French parliament passes the legislation.
International relations expert Soli Ozel of Kadir Has University
warns that will be just the beginning.
"[They could] ban the French companies from all economic bidding," he
says. "For the future, [they will] not give the French companies the
light of day. And wherever they can block France, they will try to so."
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu summoned
representatives of leading French companies to explain what is at
stake for them. With Turkish exchange accounting for 2.5 percent of
France's annual international trade, observers say such threats will
have a limited effect. But the repercussions of a deepening dispute
threaten to extend beyond France to the whole European Union.
"I think there is this negative potential, based on good information
the Turkish foreign minister met with EU ambassadors and lashed out
at them over this issue," says Idiz.
Foreign Minister Davutoglu has warned the European Union it has a
responsibility to protect freedom of speech.
The ongoing crisis in Syria may also be affected. Despite strained
relations, Paris and Ankara have found common ground in their
opposition to Damascus' ongoing crackdown on dissent.
But the head of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee,
Volkan Bozkir, warned in Paris that bilateral cooperation in the
region would be significantly harmed if the legislation was passed.
From: A. Papazian
Dorian Jones
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Turkey-to-France-Block-Genocide-Bill-or-Else-135883908.html
Dec 19 2011
Ankara is continuing to ratchet up tensions with Paris over a proposed
French law to criminalize denial of claims that Turkey's mass killings
of Armenians before and during World War I constitute genocide.
Ankara, which rejects the charge of genocide and argues the widespread
killings of its Armenian minority occurred during civil strife in
which many Turks died as well, dispatched a high-level delegation of
parliamentarians in a last-minute bid to lobby against the proposed
law.
Historians say up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and several
countries recognize the killings as genocide. Under the proposed
French legislation, denying the genocide would be punishable by up
to one year in prison along with a $58,000 fine.
On Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched
a stinging attack on France, saying that no historian or politician
can see genocide in Turkish history, and that those who do want to
see genocide should turn around and look at their own "dirty and
bloody history."
Relations between Turkey and France are already tense in connection
with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's strong opposition to Ankara's
bid to join the European Union. Erdogan last week reportedly sent
a letter to Sarkozy warning of dire consequences if the legislation
passes.
Diplomatic correspondent Semih Idiz of the Turkish newspaper Milliyet
warns such threats should be taken seriously.
"I think it is serious, I think that the government will make a big
issue out of this - [it] is not one that they can afford to let go
by," he says. "In terms of public opinion, this is one of [the] most
[touchy] of issues for Turks, and you cannot just take it lightly."
Opposition to the genocide claim is one of the few issues that unite
Turkey's normally polarized main political parties.
The main opposition People's Republican Party is due to send its own
deputies to Paris to lobby against the controversial legislation,
and the leader of the National Action party, Devlet Bahceli, strongly
backs Erdogan's tough stance against Paris.
With such cross-party support, the potential repercussions to
French-Turkish relations are expected to be severe. Turkish officials
have said their ambassador to France, Tahsin Burcuoglu, will be
recalled if the French parliament passes the legislation.
International relations expert Soli Ozel of Kadir Has University
warns that will be just the beginning.
"[They could] ban the French companies from all economic bidding," he
says. "For the future, [they will] not give the French companies the
light of day. And wherever they can block France, they will try to so."
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu summoned
representatives of leading French companies to explain what is at
stake for them. With Turkish exchange accounting for 2.5 percent of
France's annual international trade, observers say such threats will
have a limited effect. But the repercussions of a deepening dispute
threaten to extend beyond France to the whole European Union.
"I think there is this negative potential, based on good information
the Turkish foreign minister met with EU ambassadors and lashed out
at them over this issue," says Idiz.
Foreign Minister Davutoglu has warned the European Union it has a
responsibility to protect freedom of speech.
The ongoing crisis in Syria may also be affected. Despite strained
relations, Paris and Ankara have found common ground in their
opposition to Damascus' ongoing crackdown on dissent.
But the head of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee,
Volkan Bozkir, warned in Paris that bilateral cooperation in the
region would be significantly harmed if the legislation was passed.
From: A. Papazian