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United Press International UPI
Dec 30 2011
NATO coalition at risk from French vote on Armenian deaths
Published: Dec. 30, 2011 at 1:06 PM
PARIS, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- NATO's multifaceted partnership with eastern
member Turkey is at risk after Ankara slapped sanctions on Paris in
response to a French Parliament vote criminalizing denial of genocide,
including the deaths of Armenians during World War I.
The vote threatened to cause a split within President Nicolas
Sarkozy's government, with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe
reported calling the vote useless and stupid.
"What I hope now is that our Turkish friends do not overreact about
the French National Assembly decision," Juppe said. "We have lots of
things to work on together."
However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a freeze
on economic, military and political cooperation with France, a measure
timed with ongoing NATO consultations on what to do with Syria amid
mounting violence there, with Iran amid a tense stand-off over its
nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz oil waterway in the Persian
Gulf, and with Iraq over a perceived Iranian threat after the U.S.
pullout.
Turkey is outside the European Union but is NATO's key partner in the
Middle East. Its bases are regularly used by NATO forces for
operations in the region.
Erdogan accused Sarkozy of seeking populist appeal in the hope of
re-election in April presidential race.
"Efforts of gaining votes using Turcophobia and Islamophobia just to
win the presidential elections in France for personal ambitions raises
concerns, not only in the name of France, but also in the name of all
Europe and universal values of Europe," Erdogan said.
Around 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent are seen as a key source
of support for Sarkozy and his party ahead of presidential and
legislative elections in April and June next year.
The law will make denial of any mass killings that are recognized by
the state as genocide a crime punishable by a one-year prison sentence
and a $58,000 fine.
It will put the controversy over the Armenian killings on a par with
punishment for denial of the Holocaust and the deaths of Jews, gypsies
and other minorities under Nazi Germany.
So far only the Holocaust and the Armenian deaths are recognized by
France as genocide, and punishments apply to denial of the Holocaust.
About 20 other countries, including Italy, Canada and Russia have
formally recognized genocide against the Armenians.
Turkey says it cannot be held accountable for events in the Ottoman
Empire. It also disputes the deaths of Christian Armenians by Ottoman
Turks as a systematic genocide, the numbers of deaths cited in claims
and counter claims and maintains that Turks and other nationalities
also suffered during the conflict.
Algeria joined the escalating war of words, calling on France to
apologize for what it termed genocide of its people during the French
occupation. Erdogan said evidence pointed to French occupation forces
using ovens to exterminate Algerians en masse, for which he said an
apology was overdue.
It's the third time France has faced Turkish ire over the Armenian
genocide controversy, each time losing trade and political privileges.
French-Turkish trade this year exceeded $13.5 billion. In 2001, when
France recognized the Armenian deaths as genocide, it lost 40 percent
of its exports to Turkey. In 2006, Turkey responded to a similar
genocide bill in the National Assembly by freezing military ties with
France. That bill was eventually dropped by the French Senate.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero sought to placate
Ankara, saying the bill wasn't a Sarkozy initiative and Turkey was
bound by bilateral and international accords and couldn't impose a
trade embargo. Officials in Ankara said a boycott of France would go
ahead.
The vote is up for review in the National Assembly before it goes to
the Senate next year.
Unlike recession-bound EU states, Turkey is having growth rates in
excess of 8 percent. The eurozone crisis has turned many Turks away
from the idea of joining the EU, which France, and several other EU
members, firmly opposes anyway.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/12/30/NATO-coalition-at-risk-from-French-vote-on-Armenian-deaths/UPI-65431325268376/
Dec 30 2011
NATO coalition at risk from French vote on Armenian deaths
Published: Dec. 30, 2011 at 1:06 PM
PARIS, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- NATO's multifaceted partnership with eastern
member Turkey is at risk after Ankara slapped sanctions on Paris in
response to a French Parliament vote criminalizing denial of genocide,
including the deaths of Armenians during World War I.
The vote threatened to cause a split within President Nicolas
Sarkozy's government, with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe
reported calling the vote useless and stupid.
"What I hope now is that our Turkish friends do not overreact about
the French National Assembly decision," Juppe said. "We have lots of
things to work on together."
However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a freeze
on economic, military and political cooperation with France, a measure
timed with ongoing NATO consultations on what to do with Syria amid
mounting violence there, with Iran amid a tense stand-off over its
nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz oil waterway in the Persian
Gulf, and with Iraq over a perceived Iranian threat after the U.S.
pullout.
Turkey is outside the European Union but is NATO's key partner in the
Middle East. Its bases are regularly used by NATO forces for
operations in the region.
Erdogan accused Sarkozy of seeking populist appeal in the hope of
re-election in April presidential race.
"Efforts of gaining votes using Turcophobia and Islamophobia just to
win the presidential elections in France for personal ambitions raises
concerns, not only in the name of France, but also in the name of all
Europe and universal values of Europe," Erdogan said.
Around 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent are seen as a key source
of support for Sarkozy and his party ahead of presidential and
legislative elections in April and June next year.
The law will make denial of any mass killings that are recognized by
the state as genocide a crime punishable by a one-year prison sentence
and a $58,000 fine.
It will put the controversy over the Armenian killings on a par with
punishment for denial of the Holocaust and the deaths of Jews, gypsies
and other minorities under Nazi Germany.
So far only the Holocaust and the Armenian deaths are recognized by
France as genocide, and punishments apply to denial of the Holocaust.
About 20 other countries, including Italy, Canada and Russia have
formally recognized genocide against the Armenians.
Turkey says it cannot be held accountable for events in the Ottoman
Empire. It also disputes the deaths of Christian Armenians by Ottoman
Turks as a systematic genocide, the numbers of deaths cited in claims
and counter claims and maintains that Turks and other nationalities
also suffered during the conflict.
Algeria joined the escalating war of words, calling on France to
apologize for what it termed genocide of its people during the French
occupation. Erdogan said evidence pointed to French occupation forces
using ovens to exterminate Algerians en masse, for which he said an
apology was overdue.
It's the third time France has faced Turkish ire over the Armenian
genocide controversy, each time losing trade and political privileges.
French-Turkish trade this year exceeded $13.5 billion. In 2001, when
France recognized the Armenian deaths as genocide, it lost 40 percent
of its exports to Turkey. In 2006, Turkey responded to a similar
genocide bill in the National Assembly by freezing military ties with
France. That bill was eventually dropped by the French Senate.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero sought to placate
Ankara, saying the bill wasn't a Sarkozy initiative and Turkey was
bound by bilateral and international accords and couldn't impose a
trade embargo. Officials in Ankara said a boycott of France would go
ahead.
The vote is up for review in the National Assembly before it goes to
the Senate next year.
Unlike recession-bound EU states, Turkey is having growth rates in
excess of 8 percent. The eurozone crisis has turned many Turks away
from the idea of joining the EU, which France, and several other EU
members, firmly opposes anyway.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/12/30/NATO-coalition-at-risk-from-French-vote-on-Armenian-deaths/UPI-65431325268376/