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TURKISH ARMENIANS CONDEMN SARKOZY OVER BILL
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-armenians-condemn-sarkozy-over-bill.aspx?pageID=238&nID=9663&NewsCatID=338
Dec 20 2011
Turkey
Those who doubt themselves and the truth of what happened would regard
denial as a crime, says Mahcupyan.
Prominent Turkish-Armenians have sharply criticized French President
Nicolas Sarkozy for his stance on a motion criminalizing the denial
of Armenian genocide claims if the French Parliament votes in favor
of the draft bill Dec. 22.
"If a person massacred in some part of Anatolia in 1915 could come back
to life and reach Sarkozy, he would spit on his face and say Sarkozy
was trying to score political gains through his pain," Markar Esayan,
a Turkish-Armenian columnist for the daily Taraf, yesterday wrote in
an article titled "Sarkozy is deceiving the Armenians, too."
Orhan Dink, the brother of the assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, also said he thought the motion ran counter to freedom
of thought while speaking on a private broadcasting station he called
by phone the night of Dec. 19.
"I have been witnessing the Turkish people's efforts to face their
history for the past 10 years. This decision is going to strike a
blow to the process," Esayan told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Sarkozy is not being sincere, he said. France had already recognized
the events of 1915 as genocide, he said, so, "What use is there
now for another law that contradicts itself? This is a ridiculous
proposal. Those who doubt themselves and the truth of what happened
would regard denial as a crime, whereas Armenians are very certain
of the agonies they went through. If Sarkozy is unsure, it does not
concern us. It is not just the Armenian genocide but also the Jewish
genocide that ought to be debated," Etyen Mahcupyan, a Turkish-Armenian
writer and a columnist for the daily Zaman, told the Daily News.
Turkish intellectuals are courageous and ready to pay a price for this,
he said. "The word 'genocide' is now being used in this country.
Turkish society has passed a certain threshold."
Turkey ought to view its own past with greater candor, said Zakariya
Mildanoglu, a writer for the history section of the Turkish-Armenian
daily Agos, urging people to stop tussling over such terms as
"genocide" and "massacre." "Turkish and Armenian peoples ought to
speak about 1915 by themselves," Mildanoglu said. The law would entail
a yearlong jail sentence and a 45,000 euro fine if passed.
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-armenians-condemn-sarkozy-over-bill.aspx?pageID=238&nID=9663&NewsCatID=338
Dec 20 2011
Turkey
Those who doubt themselves and the truth of what happened would regard
denial as a crime, says Mahcupyan.
Prominent Turkish-Armenians have sharply criticized French President
Nicolas Sarkozy for his stance on a motion criminalizing the denial
of Armenian genocide claims if the French Parliament votes in favor
of the draft bill Dec. 22.
"If a person massacred in some part of Anatolia in 1915 could come back
to life and reach Sarkozy, he would spit on his face and say Sarkozy
was trying to score political gains through his pain," Markar Esayan,
a Turkish-Armenian columnist for the daily Taraf, yesterday wrote in
an article titled "Sarkozy is deceiving the Armenians, too."
Orhan Dink, the brother of the assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, also said he thought the motion ran counter to freedom
of thought while speaking on a private broadcasting station he called
by phone the night of Dec. 19.
"I have been witnessing the Turkish people's efforts to face their
history for the past 10 years. This decision is going to strike a
blow to the process," Esayan told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Sarkozy is not being sincere, he said. France had already recognized
the events of 1915 as genocide, he said, so, "What use is there
now for another law that contradicts itself? This is a ridiculous
proposal. Those who doubt themselves and the truth of what happened
would regard denial as a crime, whereas Armenians are very certain
of the agonies they went through. If Sarkozy is unsure, it does not
concern us. It is not just the Armenian genocide but also the Jewish
genocide that ought to be debated," Etyen Mahcupyan, a Turkish-Armenian
writer and a columnist for the daily Zaman, told the Daily News.
Turkish intellectuals are courageous and ready to pay a price for this,
he said. "The word 'genocide' is now being used in this country.
Turkish society has passed a certain threshold."
Turkey ought to view its own past with greater candor, said Zakariya
Mildanoglu, a writer for the history section of the Turkish-Armenian
daily Agos, urging people to stop tussling over such terms as
"genocide" and "massacre." "Turkish and Armenian peoples ought to
speak about 1915 by themselves," Mildanoglu said. The law would entail
a yearlong jail sentence and a 45,000 euro fine if passed.