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FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL SPARKS RETALIATORY MEASURES IN ANKARA
Today's Zaman
Jan 10 2012
Turkey
The Ankara City Council has decided to take action within the
municipality against France in retaliation for the French National
Assembly's approval of a "genocide bill" last month.
The Ankara City Council convened on Monday to consider their reaction
to France in response to a bill which was approved by the French
National Assembly that proposes penalizing those who refuse to
recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide.
Convened under the chairmanship of City Council Deputy Chairman Ali
İhsan Olmez, the council unanimously decided to take action against
France for its attitude toward Turkey.
The council's decision read: "The genocide that France carried out in
Algeria is still in our memory, and Paris Caddesi, where the French
Embassy is located, will be renamed Algerian Street. The name of
another street, Dögol [a transliteration of "de Gaulle"], will be
changed to the name of an Algerian hero, and a monument in memory of
the deaths in Algeria will be built close to the French Embassy as sign
of the sympathy and support the people of Ankara have for the Algerian
people, who were the victims of French cruelty in the 20th century."
The City Council's decision was sent to the Nomenclature Committee
for approval.
Ankara Mayor Melih Gökcek first mentioned, at a reception on Jan. 4
held in honor of the 92nd anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's
first arrival in Ankara, that the municipality was waiting for the
French Senate to approve the bill before committing to its next steps.
Gökcek said at this reception: "We expect to start building a monument
for the Algerian dead because of the French by the end of February,
but now we are waiting for the French Senate's decision. We will
monitor the attitude of the French Senate in February and decide
whether we will implement the steps or not."
If it is approved in the French Senate, the bill will make it illegal
to deny that the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
was genocide.
Today's Zaman
Jan 10 2012
Turkey
The Ankara City Council has decided to take action within the
municipality against France in retaliation for the French National
Assembly's approval of a "genocide bill" last month.
The Ankara City Council convened on Monday to consider their reaction
to France in response to a bill which was approved by the French
National Assembly that proposes penalizing those who refuse to
recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide.
Convened under the chairmanship of City Council Deputy Chairman Ali
İhsan Olmez, the council unanimously decided to take action against
France for its attitude toward Turkey.
The council's decision read: "The genocide that France carried out in
Algeria is still in our memory, and Paris Caddesi, where the French
Embassy is located, will be renamed Algerian Street. The name of
another street, Dögol [a transliteration of "de Gaulle"], will be
changed to the name of an Algerian hero, and a monument in memory of
the deaths in Algeria will be built close to the French Embassy as sign
of the sympathy and support the people of Ankara have for the Algerian
people, who were the victims of French cruelty in the 20th century."
The City Council's decision was sent to the Nomenclature Committee
for approval.
Ankara Mayor Melih Gökcek first mentioned, at a reception on Jan. 4
held in honor of the 92nd anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's
first arrival in Ankara, that the municipality was waiting for the
French Senate to approve the bill before committing to its next steps.
Gökcek said at this reception: "We expect to start building a monument
for the Algerian dead because of the French by the end of February,
but now we are waiting for the French Senate's decision. We will
monitor the attitude of the French Senate in February and decide
whether we will implement the steps or not."
If it is approved in the French Senate, the bill will make it illegal
to deny that the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
was genocide.