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TURKEY HAILS AS 'GENOCIDE' BILL IN FRANCE PUT ON HOLD
Hurriyet Daily News
Feb 1 2012
Turkey
Michel Diefenbacher spearheaded the appeal in the Lower House of
Parliament. Turkey has hailed a motion by French legislators to
halt a bill criminalizing denials of Armenian genocide claims after
they produced the 60 signatures required to stop the draft from
becoming law.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan extended "wholehearted thanks"
to the French senators who appealed the law and voiced hope France's
Constitutional Council would quash the legislation.
"I have no doubt the Constitutional Council will eventually make an
appropriate decision," President Abdullah Gul said, adding that he
was "not expecting the French from the very beginning to let their
country be overshadowed" by the resolution.
Ankara had reacted furiously last week when the French Senate approved
the law that penalizes anyone in France who denies the 1915 killings
of Armenians amounted to genocide with jail time and a fine.
On Jan. 24 President Nicolas Sarkozy's office brushed off angry threats
of retaliation by Turkey and vowed to sign the bill into law within
a fortnight.
But a left-wing group of senators said yesterday that they had gathered
76 signatures from colleagues opposed to the law. A group from the
Lower House of Parliament had also gathered 65 signatures yesterday and
had formally requested that the Constitutional Council examine the law.
The move raises the possibility that the law will be dismissed as
unconstitutional. The appeal was spearheaded by Jacques Mezard at
the Senate and Michel Diefenbacher, the head of the Turkish-French
Parliamentary Friendship Group. The groups said they each had
gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required to ask the
council to test the law's constitutionality. If the court finds the
law unconstitutional, the legislation will be rejected.
"This is an atomic bomb for the Elysee [Sarkozy's office], which
didn't see it coming," said deputy Lionel Tardy, who said most of the
65 signatories from the Lower House were, like him, from Sarkozy's
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. The council is obliged to
deliver its judgment within a month, but the period could be reduced
to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.
Turkey welcomes move
Turkish officials were universal in welcoming the development. "The
fact that the application was made with over 60 signatures from both
houses [of the French Parliament] is a significant development. I
extend my wholehearted thanks to those French parliamentarians on
behalf of myself and my nation. They did what they were supposed to
do. I hope that the Constitutional Council will rectify this unjust
process and bring it in line with the values of France," Erdogan said.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also hailed the French senators'
move, saying that with this step France embraced its own values.
Turkish EU Minister Egemen BagıÅ~_, meanwhile, said yesterday that
"freedom of expression is one of the most important features in the
EU acquis." BagıÅ~_ also noted European Commissioner for Enlargement
Stefan Fule's remarks about the French resolution in which Fule said
illuminating history was the business of historians, not politicians.
France has already officially recognized the killings as genocide,
but the new law would go further by punishing anyone who denies
this with up to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros. Around 20
countries have officially recognized the killings as genocide. Amnesty
International has criticized the French law, saying it would violate
freedom of expression.
Compiled from AFP, AA and Reuters stories by the Daily News staff.
Hurriyet Daily News
Feb 1 2012
Turkey
Michel Diefenbacher spearheaded the appeal in the Lower House of
Parliament. Turkey has hailed a motion by French legislators to
halt a bill criminalizing denials of Armenian genocide claims after
they produced the 60 signatures required to stop the draft from
becoming law.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan extended "wholehearted thanks"
to the French senators who appealed the law and voiced hope France's
Constitutional Council would quash the legislation.
"I have no doubt the Constitutional Council will eventually make an
appropriate decision," President Abdullah Gul said, adding that he
was "not expecting the French from the very beginning to let their
country be overshadowed" by the resolution.
Ankara had reacted furiously last week when the French Senate approved
the law that penalizes anyone in France who denies the 1915 killings
of Armenians amounted to genocide with jail time and a fine.
On Jan. 24 President Nicolas Sarkozy's office brushed off angry threats
of retaliation by Turkey and vowed to sign the bill into law within
a fortnight.
But a left-wing group of senators said yesterday that they had gathered
76 signatures from colleagues opposed to the law. A group from the
Lower House of Parliament had also gathered 65 signatures yesterday and
had formally requested that the Constitutional Council examine the law.
The move raises the possibility that the law will be dismissed as
unconstitutional. The appeal was spearheaded by Jacques Mezard at
the Senate and Michel Diefenbacher, the head of the Turkish-French
Parliamentary Friendship Group. The groups said they each had
gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required to ask the
council to test the law's constitutionality. If the court finds the
law unconstitutional, the legislation will be rejected.
"This is an atomic bomb for the Elysee [Sarkozy's office], which
didn't see it coming," said deputy Lionel Tardy, who said most of the
65 signatories from the Lower House were, like him, from Sarkozy's
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. The council is obliged to
deliver its judgment within a month, but the period could be reduced
to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.
Turkey welcomes move
Turkish officials were universal in welcoming the development. "The
fact that the application was made with over 60 signatures from both
houses [of the French Parliament] is a significant development. I
extend my wholehearted thanks to those French parliamentarians on
behalf of myself and my nation. They did what they were supposed to
do. I hope that the Constitutional Council will rectify this unjust
process and bring it in line with the values of France," Erdogan said.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also hailed the French senators'
move, saying that with this step France embraced its own values.
Turkish EU Minister Egemen BagıÅ~_, meanwhile, said yesterday that
"freedom of expression is one of the most important features in the
EU acquis." BagıÅ~_ also noted European Commissioner for Enlargement
Stefan Fule's remarks about the French resolution in which Fule said
illuminating history was the business of historians, not politicians.
France has already officially recognized the killings as genocide,
but the new law would go further by punishing anyone who denies
this with up to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros. Around 20
countries have officially recognized the killings as genocide. Amnesty
International has criticized the French law, saying it would violate
freedom of expression.
Compiled from AFP, AA and Reuters stories by the Daily News staff.