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FRENCH LAWMAKERS SEEK REJECTION OF GENOCIDE LAW
By John Irish and Pinar Aydinli
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-france-turkey-genocide-idUSTRE80U1QK20120131
Jan 31 2012
PARIS/ANKARA (Reuters) - French lawmakers appealed to their country's
highest court on Tuesday to overturn a law that makes it illegal to
deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a
century ago was genocide.
The move raises the possibility that the law, which sparked an angry
reaction in Turkey, will be dismissed as unconstitutional.
The legislation, which received final parliamentary approval on
January 23, prompted Ankara to cancel all economic, political and
military meetings with Paris.
More than 130 French lawmakers from both houses of parliament and
across the political divide, who had originally voted against the bill,
appealed to the Constitutional Council.
The court has one month to make its decision.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who branded the legislation
"discriminatory and racist," thanked the lawmakers who opposed it.
"On behalf of my country, I am declaring our heartfelt gratitude to
the senators and deputies who gave their signatures," he said. "I
believe they have done what needed to be done."
The lawmakers argued in their appeal that the event was still the
subject of historical contention, and therefore the legislation
infringed on the freedoms of historians, analysts and others to debate
it, ultimately violating the right to free speech.
They insisted their move did not aim to deny "the suffering of our
compatriots of Armenian origin and of all Armenians across the world."
"PATIENCE"
Last week, Erdogan said Turkey was in a "period of patience" as it
considered what measures to take.
As a member of NATO and the World Trade Organisation, Turkey may be
limited in its response by its international obligations. However,
newspapers have listed possible measures that Ankara might take
against France.
These included recalling its ambassador in Paris and expelling the
French ambassador in Ankara, thus reducing diplomatic ties to charge
d'affaires level, and closing Turkish airspace and waters to French
military aircraft and vessels.
President Nicolas Sarkozy must still ratify the law, a move now on
hold pending the court's decision.
Mostly Muslim Turkey accuses Sarkozy of trying to win the votes of
500,000 ethnic Armenians in France in the two-round presidential vote
on April 22 and May 6. France's Socialist Party, which has a majority
in the upper house, and Sarkozy's UMP party, which put forward the
bill, supported the legislation.
Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by
the Ottoman government.
The Ottoman empire was dissolved after the end of the war, but
successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the
charge of genocide is a direct insult to their nation. Ankara argues
there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the area.
"French companies in Turkey ... wanted the Constitutional Council to
be involved because it's the best solution to calm the Turks," said
Dorothee Schmid, head of the Turkish program at the French Foreign
Relations Institute in Paris.
"The Turkish government accused the French government of being racist
and discriminatory, yet this matter stems from the inability of the
Turks to handle the genocide case. Now there is a discussion on it."
France is Turkey's fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest
supplier of imports of goods and services, and bilateral trade was
$13.5 billion in the first 10 months of last year.
(Reporting By John Irish and Pinar Aydinli in Ankara, Writing by John
Irish and Jonathon Burch; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)
By John Irish and Pinar Aydinli
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-france-turkey-genocide-idUSTRE80U1QK20120131
Jan 31 2012
PARIS/ANKARA (Reuters) - French lawmakers appealed to their country's
highest court on Tuesday to overturn a law that makes it illegal to
deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a
century ago was genocide.
The move raises the possibility that the law, which sparked an angry
reaction in Turkey, will be dismissed as unconstitutional.
The legislation, which received final parliamentary approval on
January 23, prompted Ankara to cancel all economic, political and
military meetings with Paris.
More than 130 French lawmakers from both houses of parliament and
across the political divide, who had originally voted against the bill,
appealed to the Constitutional Council.
The court has one month to make its decision.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who branded the legislation
"discriminatory and racist," thanked the lawmakers who opposed it.
"On behalf of my country, I am declaring our heartfelt gratitude to
the senators and deputies who gave their signatures," he said. "I
believe they have done what needed to be done."
The lawmakers argued in their appeal that the event was still the
subject of historical contention, and therefore the legislation
infringed on the freedoms of historians, analysts and others to debate
it, ultimately violating the right to free speech.
They insisted their move did not aim to deny "the suffering of our
compatriots of Armenian origin and of all Armenians across the world."
"PATIENCE"
Last week, Erdogan said Turkey was in a "period of patience" as it
considered what measures to take.
As a member of NATO and the World Trade Organisation, Turkey may be
limited in its response by its international obligations. However,
newspapers have listed possible measures that Ankara might take
against France.
These included recalling its ambassador in Paris and expelling the
French ambassador in Ankara, thus reducing diplomatic ties to charge
d'affaires level, and closing Turkish airspace and waters to French
military aircraft and vessels.
President Nicolas Sarkozy must still ratify the law, a move now on
hold pending the court's decision.
Mostly Muslim Turkey accuses Sarkozy of trying to win the votes of
500,000 ethnic Armenians in France in the two-round presidential vote
on April 22 and May 6. France's Socialist Party, which has a majority
in the upper house, and Sarkozy's UMP party, which put forward the
bill, supported the legislation.
Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by
the Ottoman government.
The Ottoman empire was dissolved after the end of the war, but
successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the
charge of genocide is a direct insult to their nation. Ankara argues
there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the area.
"French companies in Turkey ... wanted the Constitutional Council to
be involved because it's the best solution to calm the Turks," said
Dorothee Schmid, head of the Turkish program at the French Foreign
Relations Institute in Paris.
"The Turkish government accused the French government of being racist
and discriminatory, yet this matter stems from the inability of the
Turks to handle the genocide case. Now there is a discussion on it."
France is Turkey's fifth biggest export market and sixth biggest
supplier of imports of goods and services, and bilateral trade was
$13.5 billion in the first 10 months of last year.
(Reporting By John Irish and Pinar Aydinli in Ankara, Writing by John
Irish and Jonathon Burch; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)