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FRANCE-TURKEY: ARMENIANS, LAW IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, ERDOGAN
ANSA med
Jan 20 2012
Italy
Turkish Premier and FM warn senators not to pass law
(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, JANUARY 20 - Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have stressed that France's
draft bill that states that denying the Armenian genocide in 1915
is illegal is unconstitutional. They have urged the French Senate to
reject the bill.
Referring to a recent vote in a commission of the French Senate,
Erdogan said in a television interview that the commission has
concluded that bill is unconstitutional. "I believe that the French
Senate will take the decision made by the Commission into account,"
the Turkish Premier said, quoted by Turkey's Anadolu agency. "This
decision will not survive," Foreign Minister Davutoglu said today
during a press conference about another issue, also mentioning the
possibility of legal steps. "We ask every French senator to think,
before taking a decision, setting political interests aside," the
Minister continued. "First of all, we expect mister Sarkozy, his party
and the French Senate to respect European values." A vote in favour
of the law, Davutoglu claimed, "would stain France's intellectual
history" which we, as Turks, "will remember forever."
The draft bill punishes the denial of the two genocides that have
been recognised by France (the Jewish and Armenian genocides) with
one year in prison and a fine of 45 thousand euros. It was passed by
the French National Assembly on December 22 and will be examined in
Senate on Monday. At the centre of frictions between France and Turkey
since 2001, the vote in Chamber has caused a real diplomatic crisis.
Political and military cooperation has been frozen and Turkey has
temporarily recalled its ambassador from Paris.
Turkey denies that the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire
can be defined as genocide, and considers such statement as harmful
for the honour of the Turkish nation. Erdogan has accused Sarkozy
more than once of trying to pass the law to gain votes. The Armenian
community living in France counts around 600 thousand people.
ANSA med
Jan 20 2012
Italy
Turkish Premier and FM warn senators not to pass law
(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, JANUARY 20 - Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have stressed that France's
draft bill that states that denying the Armenian genocide in 1915
is illegal is unconstitutional. They have urged the French Senate to
reject the bill.
Referring to a recent vote in a commission of the French Senate,
Erdogan said in a television interview that the commission has
concluded that bill is unconstitutional. "I believe that the French
Senate will take the decision made by the Commission into account,"
the Turkish Premier said, quoted by Turkey's Anadolu agency. "This
decision will not survive," Foreign Minister Davutoglu said today
during a press conference about another issue, also mentioning the
possibility of legal steps. "We ask every French senator to think,
before taking a decision, setting political interests aside," the
Minister continued. "First of all, we expect mister Sarkozy, his party
and the French Senate to respect European values." A vote in favour
of the law, Davutoglu claimed, "would stain France's intellectual
history" which we, as Turks, "will remember forever."
The draft bill punishes the denial of the two genocides that have
been recognised by France (the Jewish and Armenian genocides) with
one year in prison and a fine of 45 thousand euros. It was passed by
the French National Assembly on December 22 and will be examined in
Senate on Monday. At the centre of frictions between France and Turkey
since 2001, the vote in Chamber has caused a real diplomatic crisis.
Political and military cooperation has been frozen and Turkey has
temporarily recalled its ambassador from Paris.
Turkey denies that the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire
can be defined as genocide, and considers such statement as harmful
for the honour of the Turkish nation. Erdogan has accused Sarkozy
more than once of trying to pass the law to gain votes. The Armenian
community living in France counts around 600 thousand people.