Tweet
ANKARA DISMISSES SARKOZY LETTER ON 'GENOCIDE' DENIAL BILL
Today's Zaman
Jan 20 2012
Turkey
The Turkish Foreign Minister has said that a letter sent by French
President Nicolas Sarkozy to the Turkish prime minister was ineffective
in its attempt to ease the country's reaction to a genocide denial
bill in the French Senate, set to be debated on Monday.
"No opinion, no letter will change our perspective regarding the
matter," Davutoglu told reporters on Friday, in reference to a letter
Sarkozy recently sent to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
to urge Turkey not to take personally a bill that seeks to penalize
denial of the "Armenian genocide." Davutoglu further criticized the
upcoming French Senate debate that will determine the fate of the
denial bill as a move that "transcends beyond a third country's
interference in the relations of two other nations," and beyond
a Turkish-Armenian debate, as it seems to suggest that Turkey and
France must now settle the issue.
Sarkozy's message to Erdogan stressed that France cares about its
ties to its ally Turkey, in an attempt to ease the tension between
the leaders that erupted when the French government took a bill to
the Senate to criminalize genocide denials.
"The law that will first and foremost apply to France and French
citizens is to protect the memories of members of our society who
have been carrying along with them for a very long time feelings
of denial toward the realities of their ancestors' experiences,
and to heal the wounds that were inflicted one hundred years ago,"
wrote Sarkozy in the letter released by the French Embassy.
Sarkozy's letter comes in response to a previous letter Erdogan sent
the French leader to urge him to reconsider the controversial bill.
"The initiative is in the context of a general legal move to
criminalize racist and xenophobic remarks; no nation or state was
specifically targeted in the wording of the text," the letter read.
His words signaled that the denial bill should not be regarded as a
personal assault on Turkey, but rather an attempt to honor lost lives.
In a move to show sympathy to the Turkish side of the incidents
of 1915, Sarkozy added that France understood very well "the pain
suffered by the Turkish nation during World War I and the collapse of
the Ottoman Empire." The French president also touched on the issue
of France's past mistakes, saying it was painful to address tragic
incidents of the past but France has been able to do that. Sarkozy
stressed that France has owned up to its responsibility in the slave
trade, transportation of Jews from France to concentration camps,
and that he officially voiced in 2007 in Algeria the vulgarity of
colonialism that caused "unspeakable pain" to Algerians.
Sarkozy's words seemed to answer Erdogan's criticism that France has
not faced "its own dirty and bloody history." He also criticized
France for judging the history of others for political purposes,
suggesting that France has a clear conscience regarding past events
since it has recognized them. France considers the extermination of
Jews under Nazi Germany during World War II and the Armenian deaths at
the hands of Ottoman Turks genocide, but not the killings of Algerians
or Rwandans under French colonial rule.
Although Erdogan's office gave no public response to Sarkozy's letter,
a TV show that aired an interview with the Turkish prime minister one
night previous showed that Erdogan hoped that Sarkozy's bill might not
pass in the Senate. Erdogan noted that the French Senate's Commission
of Laws decision earlier this week showed that the denial bill was
"against the French constitution." The bill seeks punishment for
anyone who rejects the term genocide as the appropriate description
for the mass murders of Armenians in 1915 and of Jews around World
War II, putting the 1915 incidents and the Holocaust on par, in the
perspective of France.
Although a majority of French Senators appeared to lean towards a
"yes" vote in Monday's Senate debate as they decide on the fate of
the denial bill, a move from the French Commission of Laws earlier
this week dealt a blow to the government-initiated proposal. The
Commission voted that if the bill passes as a law through the Senate,
it would ultimately be incompatible with French laws, on the grounds
that it would block freedom of expression in the country.
Erdogan has also made this point since the French lower house approved
the bill in December, and on Thursday night Erdogan said he believed
that the French Senate "would take into consideration the commission's
decision." Erdogan said the commission decision fortified the fact
that the denial bill is unconstitutional by French standards.
Davutoglu also agreed on Friday that even if the bill passes through
the Senate, "it will not be able to survive," and it will remain a
scar on the intellectual history of France; a scar that "Turkey will
make them remember all the time." One day prior, Davutoglu voiced
a similar opinion, which corresponds with the commission's vote,
saying "even French laws deem the bill unlawful." Turkey vehemently
opposes passage of the bill in the impending Senate vote, which
would give the bill the power of law, banning the debate surrounding
the 1915 events which, by the estimation of many Western countries,
constituted genocide. Turks say the killings were not intended to
cleanse Armenians, but to quell a civil war and armed rebellion that
broke out as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing.
French Senate Chair Jean-Pierre Bel, and head of the Commission of Law
Jean Pierre Sueur both expressed that they were not content with the
denial bill, which would seriously harm bilateral relations between
old allies France and Turkey.
The commission vote, however, does not block the bill from being
placed on the agenda of the Senate on Monday, but it is believed to
influence senators. If the bill does pass, it will contradict French
laws and create further controversies in France.
Today's Zaman
Jan 20 2012
Turkey
The Turkish Foreign Minister has said that a letter sent by French
President Nicolas Sarkozy to the Turkish prime minister was ineffective
in its attempt to ease the country's reaction to a genocide denial
bill in the French Senate, set to be debated on Monday.
"No opinion, no letter will change our perspective regarding the
matter," Davutoglu told reporters on Friday, in reference to a letter
Sarkozy recently sent to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
to urge Turkey not to take personally a bill that seeks to penalize
denial of the "Armenian genocide." Davutoglu further criticized the
upcoming French Senate debate that will determine the fate of the
denial bill as a move that "transcends beyond a third country's
interference in the relations of two other nations," and beyond
a Turkish-Armenian debate, as it seems to suggest that Turkey and
France must now settle the issue.
Sarkozy's message to Erdogan stressed that France cares about its
ties to its ally Turkey, in an attempt to ease the tension between
the leaders that erupted when the French government took a bill to
the Senate to criminalize genocide denials.
"The law that will first and foremost apply to France and French
citizens is to protect the memories of members of our society who
have been carrying along with them for a very long time feelings
of denial toward the realities of their ancestors' experiences,
and to heal the wounds that were inflicted one hundred years ago,"
wrote Sarkozy in the letter released by the French Embassy.
Sarkozy's letter comes in response to a previous letter Erdogan sent
the French leader to urge him to reconsider the controversial bill.
"The initiative is in the context of a general legal move to
criminalize racist and xenophobic remarks; no nation or state was
specifically targeted in the wording of the text," the letter read.
His words signaled that the denial bill should not be regarded as a
personal assault on Turkey, but rather an attempt to honor lost lives.
In a move to show sympathy to the Turkish side of the incidents
of 1915, Sarkozy added that France understood very well "the pain
suffered by the Turkish nation during World War I and the collapse of
the Ottoman Empire." The French president also touched on the issue
of France's past mistakes, saying it was painful to address tragic
incidents of the past but France has been able to do that. Sarkozy
stressed that France has owned up to its responsibility in the slave
trade, transportation of Jews from France to concentration camps,
and that he officially voiced in 2007 in Algeria the vulgarity of
colonialism that caused "unspeakable pain" to Algerians.
Sarkozy's words seemed to answer Erdogan's criticism that France has
not faced "its own dirty and bloody history." He also criticized
France for judging the history of others for political purposes,
suggesting that France has a clear conscience regarding past events
since it has recognized them. France considers the extermination of
Jews under Nazi Germany during World War II and the Armenian deaths at
the hands of Ottoman Turks genocide, but not the killings of Algerians
or Rwandans under French colonial rule.
Although Erdogan's office gave no public response to Sarkozy's letter,
a TV show that aired an interview with the Turkish prime minister one
night previous showed that Erdogan hoped that Sarkozy's bill might not
pass in the Senate. Erdogan noted that the French Senate's Commission
of Laws decision earlier this week showed that the denial bill was
"against the French constitution." The bill seeks punishment for
anyone who rejects the term genocide as the appropriate description
for the mass murders of Armenians in 1915 and of Jews around World
War II, putting the 1915 incidents and the Holocaust on par, in the
perspective of France.
Although a majority of French Senators appeared to lean towards a
"yes" vote in Monday's Senate debate as they decide on the fate of
the denial bill, a move from the French Commission of Laws earlier
this week dealt a blow to the government-initiated proposal. The
Commission voted that if the bill passes as a law through the Senate,
it would ultimately be incompatible with French laws, on the grounds
that it would block freedom of expression in the country.
Erdogan has also made this point since the French lower house approved
the bill in December, and on Thursday night Erdogan said he believed
that the French Senate "would take into consideration the commission's
decision." Erdogan said the commission decision fortified the fact
that the denial bill is unconstitutional by French standards.
Davutoglu also agreed on Friday that even if the bill passes through
the Senate, "it will not be able to survive," and it will remain a
scar on the intellectual history of France; a scar that "Turkey will
make them remember all the time." One day prior, Davutoglu voiced
a similar opinion, which corresponds with the commission's vote,
saying "even French laws deem the bill unlawful." Turkey vehemently
opposes passage of the bill in the impending Senate vote, which
would give the bill the power of law, banning the debate surrounding
the 1915 events which, by the estimation of many Western countries,
constituted genocide. Turks say the killings were not intended to
cleanse Armenians, but to quell a civil war and armed rebellion that
broke out as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing.
French Senate Chair Jean-Pierre Bel, and head of the Commission of Law
Jean Pierre Sueur both expressed that they were not content with the
denial bill, which would seriously harm bilateral relations between
old allies France and Turkey.
The commission vote, however, does not block the bill from being
placed on the agenda of the Senate on Monday, but it is believed to
influence senators. If the bill does pass, it will contradict French
laws and create further controversies in France.