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TURKISH AMBASSADOR LEAVES FRANCE AMID GENOCIDE ROW
Jakarta Globe
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/turkish-ambassador-leaves-france-amid-genocide-row/486604#Scene_1
Dec 23 2011
Indonesia
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe termed Turkey's decision regrettable,
and urged the country not to "overreact" Share This Page0000Share
with google+ :
Turkey's ambassador to Paris returned to Ankara for consultations
Friday following a vote by the French parliament to ban the denial
of the Armenian genocide, an embassy spokesman said.
Tahsin Burcuoglu left from Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris
with his wife on a 7.40am (0640 GMT) flight and is expected in the
Turkish capital in the afternoon, spokesman Engin Solakoglu told AFP.
Turkey's embassy in Paris will remain open during the ambassador's
absence, he said. The recall of an ambassador is a diplomatic protest
and is not seen as a complete breakdown in diplomatic relations.
On Thursday, before leaving, Burcuoglu had told a news conference
France's ambassador in Turkey would not be asked to leave, although
French officials said he was already on a pre-arranged holiday in
any case.
"We are really very sad. Franco-Turkish relations did not deserve
this," Burcuoglu said, blaming Paris for the row. "When there is a
problem it always comes from the French side."
Thursday's vote in the National Assembly was the first step towards
passing a law that would impose a jail term and a 45,000 euro fine
on anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians
constitutes genocide.
During World War I hundreds of thousands of Armenians died at the hands
of Ottoman Turk forces. Armenia says 1.5 million died in a genocide,
Turkey says around 500,000 died in fighting after they sided with a
Russian invasion.
France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on Turkey not to
"overreact" to a bill that he insisted was a parliamentary initiative,
and not a project of President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.
"The damage is already done," responded Burcuoglu. "We have been
accused of genocide! How could we not overreact? Turkey will never
recognise this story of an Armenian genocide.
"There are limits. A country like Turkey cannot be treated like this.
We're not the Turkey of 2001 or 2006," he declared.
France has a 500,000-strong community of Armenian descent, many of
whose forebears fled the killings a century ago, and French politicians
assiduously court their votes every five years ahead of elections.
Turkey and many of Sarkozy's domestic opponents accuse him of
jeopardising relations with a key NATO ally and trading partner to
win Armenian votes.
"There has been a dramatic change since he visited Armenia," the
Turkish envoy said, referring to the French leader's October visit
to Yerevan, where he publicly urged Turkey to recognise the killings
as genocide.
Jakarta Globe
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/turkish-ambassador-leaves-france-amid-genocide-row/486604#Scene_1
Dec 23 2011
Indonesia
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe termed Turkey's decision regrettable,
and urged the country not to "overreact" Share This Page0000Share
with google+ :
Turkey's ambassador to Paris returned to Ankara for consultations
Friday following a vote by the French parliament to ban the denial
of the Armenian genocide, an embassy spokesman said.
Tahsin Burcuoglu left from Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris
with his wife on a 7.40am (0640 GMT) flight and is expected in the
Turkish capital in the afternoon, spokesman Engin Solakoglu told AFP.
Turkey's embassy in Paris will remain open during the ambassador's
absence, he said. The recall of an ambassador is a diplomatic protest
and is not seen as a complete breakdown in diplomatic relations.
On Thursday, before leaving, Burcuoglu had told a news conference
France's ambassador in Turkey would not be asked to leave, although
French officials said he was already on a pre-arranged holiday in
any case.
"We are really very sad. Franco-Turkish relations did not deserve
this," Burcuoglu said, blaming Paris for the row. "When there is a
problem it always comes from the French side."
Thursday's vote in the National Assembly was the first step towards
passing a law that would impose a jail term and a 45,000 euro fine
on anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians
constitutes genocide.
During World War I hundreds of thousands of Armenians died at the hands
of Ottoman Turk forces. Armenia says 1.5 million died in a genocide,
Turkey says around 500,000 died in fighting after they sided with a
Russian invasion.
France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on Turkey not to
"overreact" to a bill that he insisted was a parliamentary initiative,
and not a project of President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.
"The damage is already done," responded Burcuoglu. "We have been
accused of genocide! How could we not overreact? Turkey will never
recognise this story of an Armenian genocide.
"There are limits. A country like Turkey cannot be treated like this.
We're not the Turkey of 2001 or 2006," he declared.
France has a 500,000-strong community of Armenian descent, many of
whose forebears fled the killings a century ago, and French politicians
assiduously court their votes every five years ahead of elections.
Turkey and many of Sarkozy's domestic opponents accuse him of
jeopardising relations with a key NATO ally and trading partner to
win Armenian votes.
"There has been a dramatic change since he visited Armenia," the
Turkish envoy said, referring to the French leader's October visit
to Yerevan, where he publicly urged Turkey to recognise the killings
as genocide.