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TURKISH SENSE OF JUSTICE: BASH THE FRENCH, PARDON THE SWISS
Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 27 2011
Turkey
If I were Nicolas Sarkozy, I would not take the Turkish reaction
too seriously.
Seeing Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy Rey given the honor
of addressing the annual meeting of Turkish ambassadors, Sarkozy
would have concluded the famous motto of a former Turkish president,
"yesterday is yesterday, today is today," formerly uttered to justify
inconsistencies with the past, is more valid today than ever.
When reminded of the fact Switzerland convicted a Turkish citizen for
denying Armenians' claim of genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
argues the Swiss case is different than the French example. The Swiss
did not endorse a law recognizing 1915 events as genocide says the
Ministry, adding Dogu Perincek was convicted as a result of Swiss
anti-racism legislation.
The two cases might not be identical but I can still see a lot of
reason as to why it would have been preferable not to have Calmy Rey
as a guest of honor in Ankara.
In 1998 the government of Geneva Canton endorsed a decision recognizing
1915 killings as genocide. Calmy Rey, the then finance minister of
that government, put her signature to the decision.
The court in Lausanne that convicted Perincek in 2007, recalled the
1998 decision and pointed out Calmy Rey who signed the decision has
now become foreign minister of the country. The Perincek case has
always been taken very seriously in Turkey, prompting Ankara to react
and straining relations with Switzerland.
But all those cold shoulders were somehow forgotten and Calmy Rey
was given the honor of playing the role of mediator in 2009 in the
road leading to the signing of historic protocols which, if adopted,
were going to normalize relations between Ankara and Yerevan.
In an article dated 2009 I severely criticized why the foreign minister
of a country who had angered Turkey so much over the genocide issue
had been given this "awarding position" of being the "peacemaker"
between two hostile countries.
Calmy Rey has changed. In addition, the Swiss government has acted
against initiatives (in 2003 namely) to recognize 1915 events as
genocide in federal parliament, says the Foreign Ministry.
That could be. But then what should we do about the Swiss position
in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the Perincek
issue? The Court asked both sides to table their view underlining
the fact this is a case about freedom of expression, in other words,
asking them to avoid trying to convince the court whether 1915 was
genocide or not.
Despite this indirect warning, the Swiss government recalled in the
defense it sent to the Court the decisions of around 20 national
parliaments accepting 1915 events as genocide, and insisted the 1915
events are qualified as genocide from an international legal point
of view. The Swiss, by the way, did not accept friendly resolution.
I am not suggesting we should vilify Calmy Rey and suspend all
relations with the Swiss. In fact, I think in the case of France we
are blowing it out of proportion. But against the background I have
tried to summarize above, I see no reason why we should honor an
official of a country with whom we have a serious problem.
She is a European minister very supportive of Turkey, some say.
Supportive where? Switzerland is not even an EU member.
Let us be consistent and let us have a sense of proportionality. We
over-exaggerate while criticizing our opponents, and reward those
whose friendship is very dubious to say the least.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Hurriyet Daily News
Dec 27 2011
Turkey
If I were Nicolas Sarkozy, I would not take the Turkish reaction
too seriously.
Seeing Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy Rey given the honor
of addressing the annual meeting of Turkish ambassadors, Sarkozy
would have concluded the famous motto of a former Turkish president,
"yesterday is yesterday, today is today," formerly uttered to justify
inconsistencies with the past, is more valid today than ever.
When reminded of the fact Switzerland convicted a Turkish citizen for
denying Armenians' claim of genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
argues the Swiss case is different than the French example. The Swiss
did not endorse a law recognizing 1915 events as genocide says the
Ministry, adding Dogu Perincek was convicted as a result of Swiss
anti-racism legislation.
The two cases might not be identical but I can still see a lot of
reason as to why it would have been preferable not to have Calmy Rey
as a guest of honor in Ankara.
In 1998 the government of Geneva Canton endorsed a decision recognizing
1915 killings as genocide. Calmy Rey, the then finance minister of
that government, put her signature to the decision.
The court in Lausanne that convicted Perincek in 2007, recalled the
1998 decision and pointed out Calmy Rey who signed the decision has
now become foreign minister of the country. The Perincek case has
always been taken very seriously in Turkey, prompting Ankara to react
and straining relations with Switzerland.
But all those cold shoulders were somehow forgotten and Calmy Rey
was given the honor of playing the role of mediator in 2009 in the
road leading to the signing of historic protocols which, if adopted,
were going to normalize relations between Ankara and Yerevan.
In an article dated 2009 I severely criticized why the foreign minister
of a country who had angered Turkey so much over the genocide issue
had been given this "awarding position" of being the "peacemaker"
between two hostile countries.
Calmy Rey has changed. In addition, the Swiss government has acted
against initiatives (in 2003 namely) to recognize 1915 events as
genocide in federal parliament, says the Foreign Ministry.
That could be. But then what should we do about the Swiss position
in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the Perincek
issue? The Court asked both sides to table their view underlining
the fact this is a case about freedom of expression, in other words,
asking them to avoid trying to convince the court whether 1915 was
genocide or not.
Despite this indirect warning, the Swiss government recalled in the
defense it sent to the Court the decisions of around 20 national
parliaments accepting 1915 events as genocide, and insisted the 1915
events are qualified as genocide from an international legal point
of view. The Swiss, by the way, did not accept friendly resolution.
I am not suggesting we should vilify Calmy Rey and suspend all
relations with the Swiss. In fact, I think in the case of France we
are blowing it out of proportion. But against the background I have
tried to summarize above, I see no reason why we should honor an
official of a country with whom we have a serious problem.
She is a European minister very supportive of Turkey, some say.
Supportive where? Switzerland is not even an EU member.
Let us be consistent and let us have a sense of proportionality. We
over-exaggerate while criticizing our opponents, and reward those
whose friendship is very dubious to say the least.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress