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TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OF MORE ACTION OVER GENOCIDE BILL
Reuters
Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:41pm GMT
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan signing ceremony with Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovych (not pictured) in Ankara December 22, 2011.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey Wednesday warned France it would take further
action against Paris should the French senate pass a bill making it
a crime to deny the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey
constituted genocide.
Ankara reacted furiously when the lower house of the French parliament
last week approved the bill, recalling its ambassador from Paris,
banning French military aircraft and warships from landing and docking
in Turkey and freezing political and economic meetings.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slammed the bill as "politics based on
racism, discrimination and xenophobia" and turned his anger on French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, accusing France of colonial massacres
in Algeria.
In a statement, the National Security Council, the top state body
for security matters, said it hoped "common sense" would prevail in
France and that Paris would give up on its "mistake."
France is Turkey's fifth biggest export market and the sixth biggest
source of its imports, with bilateral trade worth $14 billion in the
first 10 months of 2011.
The National Security Council comprises Turkey's top generals, Erdogan,
members of the cabinet and President Abdullah Gul.
"About this subject, measures announced by the government and further
additional measures would be announced depending on France's steps,"
the National Security Council said at the end of a five-hour meeting.
"If the proposal passes into law, there will be an objection in every
way against this unfair measure."
The French bill, which will be debated in the Senate next year,
has caused outrage in Turkey, which argues killings took place on
all sides during a fierce partisan conflict.
Erdogan, whose personal animosity toward Sarkozy is well-known for the
Frenchman's opposition to Turkish membership of the European Union,
has suggested Sarkozy was angling for ethnic Armenian votes in next
year's presidential election.
Buoyed by its fast-growing economy while Europe battles a financial
crisis and angered at its stagnant bid to join the EU, Ankara feels
it has little to lose in a political fight with Paris.
Turkey's Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan has said French investments in
Turkey are safe but has suggested that "consumers might take matters
into their own hands."
(Additional reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia;
Editing by Matthew Jones)
Reuters
Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:41pm GMT
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan signing ceremony with Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovych (not pictured) in Ankara December 22, 2011.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey Wednesday warned France it would take further
action against Paris should the French senate pass a bill making it
a crime to deny the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey
constituted genocide.
Ankara reacted furiously when the lower house of the French parliament
last week approved the bill, recalling its ambassador from Paris,
banning French military aircraft and warships from landing and docking
in Turkey and freezing political and economic meetings.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slammed the bill as "politics based on
racism, discrimination and xenophobia" and turned his anger on French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, accusing France of colonial massacres
in Algeria.
In a statement, the National Security Council, the top state body
for security matters, said it hoped "common sense" would prevail in
France and that Paris would give up on its "mistake."
France is Turkey's fifth biggest export market and the sixth biggest
source of its imports, with bilateral trade worth $14 billion in the
first 10 months of 2011.
The National Security Council comprises Turkey's top generals, Erdogan,
members of the cabinet and President Abdullah Gul.
"About this subject, measures announced by the government and further
additional measures would be announced depending on France's steps,"
the National Security Council said at the end of a five-hour meeting.
"If the proposal passes into law, there will be an objection in every
way against this unfair measure."
The French bill, which will be debated in the Senate next year,
has caused outrage in Turkey, which argues killings took place on
all sides during a fierce partisan conflict.
Erdogan, whose personal animosity toward Sarkozy is well-known for the
Frenchman's opposition to Turkish membership of the European Union,
has suggested Sarkozy was angling for ethnic Armenian votes in next
year's presidential election.
Buoyed by its fast-growing economy while Europe battles a financial
crisis and angered at its stagnant bid to join the EU, Ankara feels
it has little to lose in a political fight with Paris.
Turkey's Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan has said French investments in
Turkey are safe but has suggested that "consumers might take matters
into their own hands."
(Additional reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia;
Editing by Matthew Jones)