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French Lawmakers Pass Genocide Law On Armenians By ELAINE GANLEY

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  • French Lawmakers Pass Genocide Law On Armenians By ELAINE GANLEY

    FRENCH LAWMAKERS PASS GENOCIDE LAW ON ARMENIANS
    By ELAINE GANLEY

    KTAR.com
    http://ktar.com/46/1480277/France-votes-on-punishment-in-new-genocide-law
    Dec 22 2011

    PARIS (AP) - French lawmakers have easily passed a measure that would
    make it a crime in France to deny that the mass killings of Armenians
    in 1915 amounted to a genocide.

    There was no official vote count in the balloting in France's lower
    house of parliament, where lawmakers simply voted by raising their
    hands. The measure now goes to the Senate.

    Lawmakers denounced what they called Turkey's propaganda effort in
    a bid to sway them.

    THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
    information. AP's earlier story is below.

    PARIS (AP)- Lawmakers vote on Thursday on a measure that would make
    it a crime in France to deny that a mass killings of Armenians in 1915
    amounted to a genocide, a measure that could put France on a collision
    course with Turkey, a strategic ally and trading partner which says
    the conflict nearly 100 years ago should be left to historians.

    France formally recognized the killings as genocide in 2001, but
    provided no penalty for anyone denying that. The bill sets a punishment
    of up to one year in prison and a fine of euro45,000 ($59,000) for
    those who deny or "outrageously minimize" the killings by Ottoman
    Turks, putting such action on a par with denial of the Holocaust.

    The conservative government has indicated it backs the measure despite
    the ire- and threats- of Turkey. The measure is expected to easily
    pass in the National Assembly, the lower house- though its fate in
    the Senate is less clear.

    An initial bid to punish denial of the Armenian genocide failed
    earlier this year, killed by the Senate- five years after it was
    passed by the lower house.

    Turkey, which vehemently rejects the term "genocide," has campaigned
    to get France to abandon the legislation, threatening to withdraw
    its ambassador and warning of "grave consequences" to economic and
    political ties.

    French authorities have stressed the importance of bilateral ties
    with Turkey and the key role it plays in sensitive strategic issues
    as a member of NATO, in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

    However, President Nicolas Sarkozy has long opposed the entry into
    the European Union of mostly Muslim Turkey, putting a constant strain
    on the two nations' ties.

    Turkey says that with the measure France, the cradle of human rights,
    will be tampering with freedom of expression by denying people the
    right to say what they think. Turkish authorities attribute the action
    to a bid by Sarkozy's party for short-term political gains ahead of
    spring presidential and legislative elections.

    Turkish authorities have weighed in with caustic remarks about France's
    past, with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan recalling its colonial history
    in Algeria and a 1945 massacre there, as well as its role in Rwanda
    where some have claimed a French role in the 1994 genocide there.

    "Those who do want to see genocide should turn around and look at
    their own dirty and bloody history," Erdogan said last weekend.
    "Turkey will stand against this intentional, malicious, unjust and
    illegal attempt through all kinds of diplomatic means."

    Turkish President Abdullah Gul spoke out on the issue this week,
    saying it will "put France in a position of a country that does not
    respect freedom of expression and does not allow objective scientific
    research."

    Turkey insists the mass killings of Armenians- up to 1.5 million,
    historians estimate- occurred during civil unrest as the Ottoman
    Empire collapsed, with losses on both sides. Historians contend the
    Armenians were massacred in the first genocide of the 20th century.

    France is pressing Turkey to own up to its history for the sake of
    "memory" just as the French have officially recognized the role of
    the state, the collaborationist Vichy government, in the deportation
    of Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II.

    In October, Sarkozy made a visit to Armenia and from its capital,
    Yerevan, urged Turkey to recognize the 1915 killings as genocide.

    "Turkey, which is a great country, would honor itself by revisiting
    its history like other countries in the world have done," Sarkozy said.

    Still, France has worked to soften the diplomatic impact of the bill.
    Government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse reiterated on Wednesday that
    the move applies to all genocides and is not specifically about the
    Armenian killings. However, she added that the government views the
    text as "the reaffirmation of a universal principle which is that
    each nation must ... have the courage to review its memory and look
    at its history with lucidity."

    France took its own time recognizing the state's role in the
    Holocaust. It was not until 1995 that a French leader, then-President
    Jacques Chirac proclaimed France's active role in sending its citizens
    to death camps. And it was only in 2009 that his historic declaration
    was formally recognized in a ruling by France's top body, the Council
    of State.


    From: Baghdasarian
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