Tweet
PRO-TURKEY DEMONSTRATION IN PARIS AS GENOCIDE BILL DEBATED
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Dec 22 2011
Germany
Dec. 22--PARIS -- Around 1,000 French people of Turkish origin
demonstrated outside France's National Assembly on Thursday, as
parliamentarians prepared to vote on a bill that would make it a
crime to deny that Armenians suffered a genocide at the hands of
Ottoman Turks.
Riot police were deployed around the assembly building in Paris as
the debate got underway.
The demonstrators, who were penned in behind security barriers in
a square adjacent to the assembly, waved Turkish flags and placards
denouncing the bill.
"History must not serve politics" one placard read.
"Fishing for votes must not be done at the expense of a country's
history," another placard read.
The bill proposes to punish people who deny or minimize genocides
with a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (59,000 dollars).
France recognizes two events as genocides: the Nazi Holocaust of Jews
during World War II and the mass killings of Armenians in eastern
Turkey between 1915 and 1917.
A separate law already criminalizes Holocaust denial.
In Turkey, the bill is seen as an attempt by President Nicolas
Sarkozy's party to curry favour with a small but influential Armenian
diaspora ahead of next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million Armenian citizens of the Ottoman
Empire were either killed or died of neglect on deportation marches
to the Syrian desert in 1915-18. Before becoming president in 2007
Sarkozy had promised to push through legislation on genocide denial.
Turkey rejects the genocide tag. Ankara says some 300,000 Armenians
died, and argues that it was largely the result of unrest during
the war following the invasion by Russian forces of eastern Turkey,
where most Armenians lived.
The bill, which was proposed by a member of the ruling Union for a
Popular Movement, enjoys the backing of most French lawmakers.
To become law it also needs to be approved by the Senate. A vote in
the Senate is not expected to happen for months. Turkey has warned of
"grave" consequences for diplomatic relations and economic relations
if the assembly approves the bill and vowed to immediately recall
its ambassador.
France's European Affairs Minister Jean Leonetti downplayed the
possible fallout on France Inter Radio, calling Turkey's threatened
reprisals "empty threats."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Dec 22 2011
Germany
Dec. 22--PARIS -- Around 1,000 French people of Turkish origin
demonstrated outside France's National Assembly on Thursday, as
parliamentarians prepared to vote on a bill that would make it a
crime to deny that Armenians suffered a genocide at the hands of
Ottoman Turks.
Riot police were deployed around the assembly building in Paris as
the debate got underway.
The demonstrators, who were penned in behind security barriers in
a square adjacent to the assembly, waved Turkish flags and placards
denouncing the bill.
"History must not serve politics" one placard read.
"Fishing for votes must not be done at the expense of a country's
history," another placard read.
The bill proposes to punish people who deny or minimize genocides
with a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (59,000 dollars).
France recognizes two events as genocides: the Nazi Holocaust of Jews
during World War II and the mass killings of Armenians in eastern
Turkey between 1915 and 1917.
A separate law already criminalizes Holocaust denial.
In Turkey, the bill is seen as an attempt by President Nicolas
Sarkozy's party to curry favour with a small but influential Armenian
diaspora ahead of next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million Armenian citizens of the Ottoman
Empire were either killed or died of neglect on deportation marches
to the Syrian desert in 1915-18. Before becoming president in 2007
Sarkozy had promised to push through legislation on genocide denial.
Turkey rejects the genocide tag. Ankara says some 300,000 Armenians
died, and argues that it was largely the result of unrest during
the war following the invasion by Russian forces of eastern Turkey,
where most Armenians lived.
The bill, which was proposed by a member of the ruling Union for a
Popular Movement, enjoys the backing of most French lawmakers.
To become law it also needs to be approved by the Senate. A vote in
the Senate is not expected to happen for months. Turkey has warned of
"grave" consequences for diplomatic relations and economic relations
if the assembly approves the bill and vowed to immediately recall
its ambassador.
France's European Affairs Minister Jean Leonetti downplayed the
possible fallout on France Inter Radio, calling Turkey's threatened
reprisals "empty threats."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress