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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 24 2011
Getting prepared for 1915
by Murat Yetkin
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has announced a series of
measures as a reaction to French Parliament's voting of a bill that
criminalizes saying the 1915 killings during World War I that hit the
Ottoman Empire were not `Armenian genocide.'
The measures include the cancelling of all existing political and
diplomatic programs and military cooperation including using airspace
and maritime routes under Turkish control and any kind of cooperation.
Stressing that French Parliament's decision was with the backing of
President Nicolas Sarkozy, ErdoÄ?an said that was only the first stage
of measures, and if the French Senate will approve the bill to become
a law, there are more to come, without elaborating much about what
those were.
There was no mention of an economic boycott on French goods following
two careful warnings. One was by the French government reminding the
Turkish government of the Customs Union agreement with the European
Union and the World Trade Organization regulations. The other was by
the Turkish business community, particularly by Ã`mit Boyner of Turkish
Industry & Business Association (TÃ`SÄ°AD) and Rifat HisarcıklıoÄ?lu of
the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) who
said, one, it may hit the Turkish economy, especially in the
employment side, and two, it is not likely to bear any productive
results, at least in the short run.
Time is important because, according to French laws, the legislative
work has to stop two months ahead of the elections. The first round of
presidential elections in France is on April 22, 2012, so the bill has
to pass at the latest on Feb. 22, 2012.
The date is important because April 24 was the date of a telegram sent
to local officials by the Interior Minister Talat Bey of the
disintegrating Ottoman Empire in 1915 about deportation of the
Armenian population from eastern provinces with accusations of
collaborating with the invading Russian army, which is considered as
the beginning of the alleged genocide.
Therefore, if the bill is approved by the French Senate, both
Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and François Hollande of
the Socialist Party (PS) seek to harvest the votes of the Armenian
electorate in the country (most of them are immigrants from wartime
Turkey) at least for the second round on May 6.
In 2006 the French Senate had refused to vote for a similar bill on
grounds that it was against freedom of expression, one of the basic
elements of France.
Despite a terrible competition between Sarkozy and Hollande this time,
the same thing may happen and the Senate may again drop the bill,
turning the whole theater into a game to take Armenian votes for
French politicians by bashing Turkey once again.
But we have the American Congress' turn of bashing Turks for Armenian
votes beginning early 2012, a black festivity that repeats itself
every year.
And there is more to come as the 100th anniversary of the 1915
incidents approach. Ankara is right to say the French attempt was
aiming at freedom of expression. But that doesn't help the situation
with Turkey's Armenian issue, which needs more that correcting the
image campaigns.
This is a major issue that Turkey has to put behind it in order to
move on, and it needs political steps to be taken, the sooner the
better.
December/24/2011
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/getting-prepared-for-1915.aspx?pageID=238&nID=9916&NewsCatID=409
Dec 24 2011
Getting prepared for 1915
by Murat Yetkin
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has announced a series of
measures as a reaction to French Parliament's voting of a bill that
criminalizes saying the 1915 killings during World War I that hit the
Ottoman Empire were not `Armenian genocide.'
The measures include the cancelling of all existing political and
diplomatic programs and military cooperation including using airspace
and maritime routes under Turkish control and any kind of cooperation.
Stressing that French Parliament's decision was with the backing of
President Nicolas Sarkozy, ErdoÄ?an said that was only the first stage
of measures, and if the French Senate will approve the bill to become
a law, there are more to come, without elaborating much about what
those were.
There was no mention of an economic boycott on French goods following
two careful warnings. One was by the French government reminding the
Turkish government of the Customs Union agreement with the European
Union and the World Trade Organization regulations. The other was by
the Turkish business community, particularly by Ã`mit Boyner of Turkish
Industry & Business Association (TÃ`SÄ°AD) and Rifat HisarcıklıoÄ?lu of
the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) who
said, one, it may hit the Turkish economy, especially in the
employment side, and two, it is not likely to bear any productive
results, at least in the short run.
Time is important because, according to French laws, the legislative
work has to stop two months ahead of the elections. The first round of
presidential elections in France is on April 22, 2012, so the bill has
to pass at the latest on Feb. 22, 2012.
The date is important because April 24 was the date of a telegram sent
to local officials by the Interior Minister Talat Bey of the
disintegrating Ottoman Empire in 1915 about deportation of the
Armenian population from eastern provinces with accusations of
collaborating with the invading Russian army, which is considered as
the beginning of the alleged genocide.
Therefore, if the bill is approved by the French Senate, both
Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and François Hollande of
the Socialist Party (PS) seek to harvest the votes of the Armenian
electorate in the country (most of them are immigrants from wartime
Turkey) at least for the second round on May 6.
In 2006 the French Senate had refused to vote for a similar bill on
grounds that it was against freedom of expression, one of the basic
elements of France.
Despite a terrible competition between Sarkozy and Hollande this time,
the same thing may happen and the Senate may again drop the bill,
turning the whole theater into a game to take Armenian votes for
French politicians by bashing Turkey once again.
But we have the American Congress' turn of bashing Turks for Armenian
votes beginning early 2012, a black festivity that repeats itself
every year.
And there is more to come as the 100th anniversary of the 1915
incidents approach. Ankara is right to say the French attempt was
aiming at freedom of expression. But that doesn't help the situation
with Turkey's Armenian issue, which needs more that correcting the
image campaigns.
This is a major issue that Turkey has to put behind it in order to
move on, and it needs political steps to be taken, the sooner the
better.
December/24/2011
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/getting-prepared-for-1915.aspx?pageID=238&nID=9916&NewsCatID=409