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PARIS UNDER FIRE FOR ITS APPROVAL OF GENOCIDE DENIAL BILL
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-266598-paris-under-fire-for-its-approval-of-genocide-denial-bill.html
Dec 23 2011
Turkey
Criticisms and reactions have rained down on France in the wake of
a vote in the French Parliament on Thursday that made it a crime to
deny that the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians was genocide,
with many accusing the country of greatly damaging its commitment to
freedom of speech and acting with political motivations.
Despite strong protests by Turkey, French lawmakers in the National
Assembly -- the lower house of parliament -- voted overwhelmingly in
favor of the bill, which will now be debated next year in the senate.
The bill makes denial of the alleged Armenian genocide a crime
punishable by a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros.
Hélène Flautre, the co-chairperson of the EU-Turkey Joint
Parliamentary Committee, slammed the French genocide law as being not
"useful" and said the law came into being as a result of political
motivations. "It is not a useful law. It is a result of the pressure
of an internal political agenda in the context of presidential
elections. It is a waste of time, and it will put in danger the
work of intellectuals in particular in Turkey," she said. She said
she strongly disagrees with the French National Assembly and to pass
judgment on history is the job of academics and historians, not that
of political institutions.
"I always have in mind what the late [Turkish-Armenian journalist]
Hrant Dink used to say. As a Turkish-Armenian who believed in the
genocide, he used to say that he would go to Paris and deny the
Armenian genocide if the French parliament would accept it. It is
purely an electoral and mediatic coup," she said. Flautre still voiced
her hope that the law would not be adopted in the French senate.
"It still needs to go through the senate and be signed by the
president. I have colleagues in the French senate who are trying to
block it. We will see. The battle is not over yet," she said. Another
reaction to the French law from the European Parliament was voiced
by European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) President and
EP member Graham Watson. Watson criticized the French genocide law,
saying it is a violation of freedom of speech and will make France
regret its passage in the future. "I am not sure criminalizing
identification with certain events that are often very difficult to
prove historically is a good way forward. If you are Germany, you
wish to criminalize praise of the Holocaust, of course. Everybody
understands. We managed to avoid such actions in Britain, partly
because it is against freedom of expression but also something that
limits academic debate. I suspect the French may come to regret such
a decision. This is not a matter of criminal law but of historians,"
Watson told Today's Zaman.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also
expressed concerns on the approval of the French law on Thursday. OSCE
Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic said: "I
fully acknowledge the humanitarian intentions of those members of the
National Assembly who authored and supported this proposal. However,
I believe that the final adoption of these legal amendments would
raise serious concerns with regard to international standards of
freedom of expression."
"Furthermore, it could set a precedent internationally for politically
construed, ad-hoc criminalization of public debates. Criminalization
of debates on history's true course, even of obviously false and
offensive statements about a nation's tragic moment, is not conducive
to a better understanding among people, communities and authorities
of OSCE participating states."
Mijatovic also said she feared the passing of this law by a nation
with a great history of press freedom might prompt other countries in
the OSCE region to follow France's example and similarly criminalize
historical statements in violation of their OSCE commitments that
aim at encouraging a free discussion on issues of public interest.
Mijatovic said she hoped the French senate would defeat the bill.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin
İhsanoglu also directed harsh criticisms at France over its approval
of the genocide bill, calling it "nonsense."
İhsanoglu said France was in a "paradoxical contradiction,"
championing freedom of expression on the one hand while passing
legislation to ban debate on a "claim regarding history." "The OIC
rejects this nonsense," İhsanoglu told the Anatolia news agency
on the sidelines of an OIC meeting in İstanbul on Friday. "There
are three principles at the core of the French Republic: liberty,
equality and fraternity. To me, this legislation inflicts harm on
at least two of them." İhsanoglu also lambasted what he called an
"unacceptable contradiction" in Europe over freedom of expression,
saying caricatures insulting the Prophet Muhammad are defended in the
name of free speech while such a bill could be enacted in the French
parliament. "When you criticize those who insult others, our Prophet
and sacred values, we are told that this is freedom of expression.
When someone draws uncivilized caricatures about our most sacred
values, no punishment is considered because they say it is an issue of
freedom of expression. Now, the same people who defend these [insults
and caricatures] pass a bill to punish those who do not accept this
claim about history," İhsanoglu said. "This is undisputedly an
unacceptable contradiction."
Scientists, not parliaments, can write history, says Lewy Professor
Guenter Lewy, author, political scientist and professor emeritus
at the University of Massachusetts, said the French parliament has
no right to judge history. Lewy, author of "The Armenian Massacres
in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide," said historians -- not the
French parliament -- can write the history. He said the French made
a big mistake by passing such a law because there is no legal ground
for the Armenian genocide. In a telephone interview with Today's
Zaman, Lewy said he has devoted 52 years of his life to studying
genocide and came up with the conclusion that the incidents of 1915
are not tantamount to genocide. He said history can be written with
the consensus of scientists and documents, not through the decisions
of parliaments. Some Armenians and others say 1.5 million Anatolian
Armenians were killed in a systematic campaign of genocide during
World War I. Turkey says the figures are inflated and insists that the
killings occurred as the Ottoman Empire was trying to quell an uprising
of Armenians, who revolted against Ottoman rule for independence,
in collaboration with the Russian army, which was then invading
Eastern Anatolia.
Renowned French photographer Eric Bouvet described the genocide law
as a game for French politicians, while adding that the French public
actually does not care much about Armenians.
He said the only thing French people know about Armenians is the word
"Aznavour," and the genocide bill is the work of a French minority
who are under the influence of the Armenian diaspora.
Andreas Trampe, a photo editor at the well-known German magazine Stern,
also said it is wrong to judge a nation by its past. He said Germans
are not very interested in the Armenian issue, and if there is a need
to confront history, countries should do this themselves.
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-266598-paris-under-fire-for-its-approval-of-genocide-denial-bill.html
Dec 23 2011
Turkey
Criticisms and reactions have rained down on France in the wake of
a vote in the French Parliament on Thursday that made it a crime to
deny that the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians was genocide,
with many accusing the country of greatly damaging its commitment to
freedom of speech and acting with political motivations.
Despite strong protests by Turkey, French lawmakers in the National
Assembly -- the lower house of parliament -- voted overwhelmingly in
favor of the bill, which will now be debated next year in the senate.
The bill makes denial of the alleged Armenian genocide a crime
punishable by a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros.
Hélène Flautre, the co-chairperson of the EU-Turkey Joint
Parliamentary Committee, slammed the French genocide law as being not
"useful" and said the law came into being as a result of political
motivations. "It is not a useful law. It is a result of the pressure
of an internal political agenda in the context of presidential
elections. It is a waste of time, and it will put in danger the
work of intellectuals in particular in Turkey," she said. She said
she strongly disagrees with the French National Assembly and to pass
judgment on history is the job of academics and historians, not that
of political institutions.
"I always have in mind what the late [Turkish-Armenian journalist]
Hrant Dink used to say. As a Turkish-Armenian who believed in the
genocide, he used to say that he would go to Paris and deny the
Armenian genocide if the French parliament would accept it. It is
purely an electoral and mediatic coup," she said. Flautre still voiced
her hope that the law would not be adopted in the French senate.
"It still needs to go through the senate and be signed by the
president. I have colleagues in the French senate who are trying to
block it. We will see. The battle is not over yet," she said. Another
reaction to the French law from the European Parliament was voiced
by European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) President and
EP member Graham Watson. Watson criticized the French genocide law,
saying it is a violation of freedom of speech and will make France
regret its passage in the future. "I am not sure criminalizing
identification with certain events that are often very difficult to
prove historically is a good way forward. If you are Germany, you
wish to criminalize praise of the Holocaust, of course. Everybody
understands. We managed to avoid such actions in Britain, partly
because it is against freedom of expression but also something that
limits academic debate. I suspect the French may come to regret such
a decision. This is not a matter of criminal law but of historians,"
Watson told Today's Zaman.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also
expressed concerns on the approval of the French law on Thursday. OSCE
Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic said: "I
fully acknowledge the humanitarian intentions of those members of the
National Assembly who authored and supported this proposal. However,
I believe that the final adoption of these legal amendments would
raise serious concerns with regard to international standards of
freedom of expression."
"Furthermore, it could set a precedent internationally for politically
construed, ad-hoc criminalization of public debates. Criminalization
of debates on history's true course, even of obviously false and
offensive statements about a nation's tragic moment, is not conducive
to a better understanding among people, communities and authorities
of OSCE participating states."
Mijatovic also said she feared the passing of this law by a nation
with a great history of press freedom might prompt other countries in
the OSCE region to follow France's example and similarly criminalize
historical statements in violation of their OSCE commitments that
aim at encouraging a free discussion on issues of public interest.
Mijatovic said she hoped the French senate would defeat the bill.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin
İhsanoglu also directed harsh criticisms at France over its approval
of the genocide bill, calling it "nonsense."
İhsanoglu said France was in a "paradoxical contradiction,"
championing freedom of expression on the one hand while passing
legislation to ban debate on a "claim regarding history." "The OIC
rejects this nonsense," İhsanoglu told the Anatolia news agency
on the sidelines of an OIC meeting in İstanbul on Friday. "There
are three principles at the core of the French Republic: liberty,
equality and fraternity. To me, this legislation inflicts harm on
at least two of them." İhsanoglu also lambasted what he called an
"unacceptable contradiction" in Europe over freedom of expression,
saying caricatures insulting the Prophet Muhammad are defended in the
name of free speech while such a bill could be enacted in the French
parliament. "When you criticize those who insult others, our Prophet
and sacred values, we are told that this is freedom of expression.
When someone draws uncivilized caricatures about our most sacred
values, no punishment is considered because they say it is an issue of
freedom of expression. Now, the same people who defend these [insults
and caricatures] pass a bill to punish those who do not accept this
claim about history," İhsanoglu said. "This is undisputedly an
unacceptable contradiction."
Scientists, not parliaments, can write history, says Lewy Professor
Guenter Lewy, author, political scientist and professor emeritus
at the University of Massachusetts, said the French parliament has
no right to judge history. Lewy, author of "The Armenian Massacres
in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide," said historians -- not the
French parliament -- can write the history. He said the French made
a big mistake by passing such a law because there is no legal ground
for the Armenian genocide. In a telephone interview with Today's
Zaman, Lewy said he has devoted 52 years of his life to studying
genocide and came up with the conclusion that the incidents of 1915
are not tantamount to genocide. He said history can be written with
the consensus of scientists and documents, not through the decisions
of parliaments. Some Armenians and others say 1.5 million Anatolian
Armenians were killed in a systematic campaign of genocide during
World War I. Turkey says the figures are inflated and insists that the
killings occurred as the Ottoman Empire was trying to quell an uprising
of Armenians, who revolted against Ottoman rule for independence,
in collaboration with the Russian army, which was then invading
Eastern Anatolia.
Renowned French photographer Eric Bouvet described the genocide law
as a game for French politicians, while adding that the French public
actually does not care much about Armenians.
He said the only thing French people know about Armenians is the word
"Aznavour," and the genocide bill is the work of a French minority
who are under the influence of the Armenian diaspora.
Andreas Trampe, a photo editor at the well-known German magazine Stern,
also said it is wrong to judge a nation by its past. He said Germans
are not very interested in the Armenian issue, and if there is a need
to confront history, countries should do this themselves.