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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 24 2011
Family dragged into bill debate
ISTANBUL / ANKARA
ErdoÄ?an lashes out at Sarkozy saying the latter's his father witnessed
the incidents in Algeria, and accusing the French government of being
`spineless' due to the low turnout for the bill. Sarkozy's father
denies ever being to Algeria
French President Nicolas Sarkozy ought `to learn historical facts from
his own ancestors' when interfering in the debates about the supposed
genocides of others, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said
Dec. 23 in Istanbul.
`Sarkozy should ask about France's genocide in Algeria in 1945 to his
father, Paul Sarkozy, who was a legionnaire in the French army in that
time; I have no doubt that his father has some stories to tell to his
son,' ErdoÄ?an said during the opening of a conference. ErdoÄ?an also
said a forefather of Sarkozy was a refugee who was able to migrate
from Spain to Thessaloniki in 1526 as the Ottoman Empire opened its
borders to save Jews from the Inquisition. `If Sarkozy looks to his
own family history, he will find nothing but the help of Turks.
Benedict Mallah, Sarkozy's grandfather, was saved by Turks and he went
to France in 1904 when Turkey lost Thessaloniki to the Greeks,'
ErdoÄ?an said.
Never been to Algeria: Sarkozy's father
Nicolas Sarkozy's father Pal Sarkozy replied that he had never been to
Algeria. `I have not passed beyond Marseille. And I stayed at the
legion for four months,' he told France's BFMTV channel. `Just buy my
book, `So much life,' by Pal Sarkozy. All the documents are there --
[the matter] is totally ridiculous.' France's lower house of
Parliament passed a bill Dec. 22 criminalizing denials of the 1915
events as genocide, touching off profound Turkish anger. ErdoÄ?an said
the French government had no courage to vote against the bill as the
motion passed with only 55 votes even though the chamber has 557
members. `Sarkozy is trying to win the elections in France with racism
against Turks and Muslims. My words are not against French society but
that government is racist. They are spineless, they have no courage,'
ErdoÄ?an said.
France's stance similar to that of dictatorships: FM
The prime minister also read a letter from Süleyman the Magnificent to
French King François I, dismissing the monarch's requests for help.
ErdoÄ?an said he gave the letter as a gift to Sarkozy when he came to
Istanbul, prompting applause from his audience.
After the bill passed, Turkey announced the cancelation of all
bilateral military and economic cooperation and the suspension of all
bilateral political consultations with France. In Ankara Foreign
Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu compared France's stance to that of `the
dictatorships' of the Middle East. `Yesterday's bill took Europe back
to the Middle Ages. Just as the Gadhafi regime, the bin Ali regime and
the al-Assad regime dictated their peoples what to think and what not
to think, French Parliament and leaders behind it dictated Europeans
what not to debate,' DavutoÄ?lu told a gathering of Turkish ambassadors
Dec. 23. French Parliament stepped over all the values Europe had
championed and it risked the future of European democracy in return
for political gain, he said. The minister called on French
intellectuals to protect their values. `If Europeans do not look after
their own values, we will do it,' he said. Ankara would raise its
voice against the bill `all around the world,' DavutoÄ?lu said.
The Turkish president expressed hope Dec. 23 the resolution process in
France would not continue, Anatolia news agency reported. President
Abdullah Gül said he hoped France would not proceed with the
legislative process. `Nobody can express his or her sincere views
after this resolution is adopted in France, which has been publicly
known as a country where pluralism and everything was discussed
freely,' Gül told reporters in Istanbul. Gül also said the voting in
France was an insult to Turkish people. France was one of the three
members of the Minsk Group set up to find a solution to the
Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute and to end instability in the Caucasus.
`France should immediately withdraw from mediation in case the
resolution is enacted,' Gül said. `The current French president has
prejudices against Turkey.' Meanwhile, speaking in France, the main
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal KılıçdaroÄ?lu
said Dec. 23 they would give full support to the measures taken by the
government against France.
December/24/2011
Dec 24 2011
Family dragged into bill debate
ISTANBUL / ANKARA
ErdoÄ?an lashes out at Sarkozy saying the latter's his father witnessed
the incidents in Algeria, and accusing the French government of being
`spineless' due to the low turnout for the bill. Sarkozy's father
denies ever being to Algeria
French President Nicolas Sarkozy ought `to learn historical facts from
his own ancestors' when interfering in the debates about the supposed
genocides of others, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said
Dec. 23 in Istanbul.
`Sarkozy should ask about France's genocide in Algeria in 1945 to his
father, Paul Sarkozy, who was a legionnaire in the French army in that
time; I have no doubt that his father has some stories to tell to his
son,' ErdoÄ?an said during the opening of a conference. ErdoÄ?an also
said a forefather of Sarkozy was a refugee who was able to migrate
from Spain to Thessaloniki in 1526 as the Ottoman Empire opened its
borders to save Jews from the Inquisition. `If Sarkozy looks to his
own family history, he will find nothing but the help of Turks.
Benedict Mallah, Sarkozy's grandfather, was saved by Turks and he went
to France in 1904 when Turkey lost Thessaloniki to the Greeks,'
ErdoÄ?an said.
Never been to Algeria: Sarkozy's father
Nicolas Sarkozy's father Pal Sarkozy replied that he had never been to
Algeria. `I have not passed beyond Marseille. And I stayed at the
legion for four months,' he told France's BFMTV channel. `Just buy my
book, `So much life,' by Pal Sarkozy. All the documents are there --
[the matter] is totally ridiculous.' France's lower house of
Parliament passed a bill Dec. 22 criminalizing denials of the 1915
events as genocide, touching off profound Turkish anger. ErdoÄ?an said
the French government had no courage to vote against the bill as the
motion passed with only 55 votes even though the chamber has 557
members. `Sarkozy is trying to win the elections in France with racism
against Turks and Muslims. My words are not against French society but
that government is racist. They are spineless, they have no courage,'
ErdoÄ?an said.
France's stance similar to that of dictatorships: FM
The prime minister also read a letter from Süleyman the Magnificent to
French King François I, dismissing the monarch's requests for help.
ErdoÄ?an said he gave the letter as a gift to Sarkozy when he came to
Istanbul, prompting applause from his audience.
After the bill passed, Turkey announced the cancelation of all
bilateral military and economic cooperation and the suspension of all
bilateral political consultations with France. In Ankara Foreign
Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu compared France's stance to that of `the
dictatorships' of the Middle East. `Yesterday's bill took Europe back
to the Middle Ages. Just as the Gadhafi regime, the bin Ali regime and
the al-Assad regime dictated their peoples what to think and what not
to think, French Parliament and leaders behind it dictated Europeans
what not to debate,' DavutoÄ?lu told a gathering of Turkish ambassadors
Dec. 23. French Parliament stepped over all the values Europe had
championed and it risked the future of European democracy in return
for political gain, he said. The minister called on French
intellectuals to protect their values. `If Europeans do not look after
their own values, we will do it,' he said. Ankara would raise its
voice against the bill `all around the world,' DavutoÄ?lu said.
The Turkish president expressed hope Dec. 23 the resolution process in
France would not continue, Anatolia news agency reported. President
Abdullah Gül said he hoped France would not proceed with the
legislative process. `Nobody can express his or her sincere views
after this resolution is adopted in France, which has been publicly
known as a country where pluralism and everything was discussed
freely,' Gül told reporters in Istanbul. Gül also said the voting in
France was an insult to Turkish people. France was one of the three
members of the Minsk Group set up to find a solution to the
Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute and to end instability in the Caucasus.
`France should immediately withdraw from mediation in case the
resolution is enacted,' Gül said. `The current French president has
prejudices against Turkey.' Meanwhile, speaking in France, the main
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal KılıçdaroÄ?lu
said Dec. 23 they would give full support to the measures taken by the
government against France.
December/24/2011