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FRANCE VOTES ON GENOCIDE LAW, FACES TURKISH REPRISALS
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-france-turkey-genocidetre80m1mw-20120123,0,2084564.story
Jan 23 2012
IL
John Irish and Emile Picy, Reuters
PARIS (Reuters) - French senators vote later Monday on a bill to make
it illegal to deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks nearly a century ago was genocide, raising the prospect of a
major diplomatic rift between two NATO allies.
Lawmakers in the lower-house National Assembly voted overwhelmingly
in December for the draft law outlawing genocide denial, prompting
Ankara to cancel all economic, political and military meetings with
Paris and recall its ambassador for consultations.
The bill, which has been made more general so that it outlaws the
denial of any genocide, partly in the hope of appeasing the Turks,
will be voted on around 7 p.m. (1800 GMT).
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 soon after the end of World War One,
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.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters at the
Council of Europe in Strasbourg that Ankara would take new and
permanent measures unless the bill was rejected and compared it to
the Inquisition in the Middle Ages which was created by the Catholic
Church to stamp out heresy.
"If the law is voted (through), it will hurt French and Turkish
relations." Arinc said Turkey could take the matter to the European
Court of Human Rights.
Turkey says the bill is a bid by Sarkozy to win the votes of 500,000
ethnic Armenians in France in the two-round presidential vote on
April 22 and May 6.
The bill mandates a maximum 45,000-euro ($58,000) fine and a year in
jail for offenders. France passed a law recognizing the killing of
Armenians as genocide in 2001.
WAVING VOTING CARDS
Thousands of Turks from across Europe demonstrated in central Paris
at the weekend and about 200 Franco-Turks protested Monday in front
of the Senate. They waved their French voting cards and banners with
slogans including: "It's not up to politicians to invent history."
The Socialist Party, which has had a majority in the Senate since
elections in the upper house late last year, and the Senate leader
of President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, which put forward the bill,
have said they will back the legislation.
But a non-binding Senate recommendation last week said the law would
be unconstitutional and, after weeks of aggressive Turkish lobbying,
there are suggestions the outcome will be closer than anticipated.
If adopted, Sarkozy should then ratify the bill with the process to
be completed before parliament is suspended in February ahead of the
presidential election.
It could still be rejected if some 60 lawmakers agree to appeal the
decision at the country's highest court and that body considers the
text unconstitutional. The Constitutional Council would have one
month to make its decision.
Sarkozy wrote to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan last week
saying the bill did not single out any country and that Paris was
aware of the "suffering endured by the Turkish people" during the
final years of the Ottoman empire.
French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero called on Turkey not
to overreact and said Paris considered Ankara a "very important ally."
Engin Solakoglu, first secretary at the Turkish embassy in Paris, said:
"France can't continue to say that Turkey is an important ally when
it votes laws against it."
European Union candidate Turkey could not impose economic sanctions
on France, given its World Trade Organization membership and customs
union accord with Europe.
But the row could cost France state-to-state contracts and would create
diplomatic tension as Turkey takes an increasingly influential role
in the Middle East.
(Additional reporting by Lucien Libert in Paris, Gilbert Reilhac in
Strasbourg and Daren Butler in Istanbul)
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-france-turkey-genocidetre80m1mw-20120123,0,2084564.story
Jan 23 2012
IL
John Irish and Emile Picy, Reuters
PARIS (Reuters) - French senators vote later Monday on a bill to make
it illegal to deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks nearly a century ago was genocide, raising the prospect of a
major diplomatic rift between two NATO allies.
Lawmakers in the lower-house National Assembly voted overwhelmingly
in December for the draft law outlawing genocide denial, prompting
Ankara to cancel all economic, political and military meetings with
Paris and recall its ambassador for consultations.
The bill, which has been made more general so that it outlaws the
denial of any genocide, partly in the hope of appeasing the Turks,
will be voted on around 7 p.m. (1800 GMT).
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 soon after the end of World War One,
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.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters at the
Council of Europe in Strasbourg that Ankara would take new and
permanent measures unless the bill was rejected and compared it to
the Inquisition in the Middle Ages which was created by the Catholic
Church to stamp out heresy.
"If the law is voted (through), it will hurt French and Turkish
relations." Arinc said Turkey could take the matter to the European
Court of Human Rights.
Turkey says the bill is a bid by Sarkozy to win the votes of 500,000
ethnic Armenians in France in the two-round presidential vote on
April 22 and May 6.
The bill mandates a maximum 45,000-euro ($58,000) fine and a year in
jail for offenders. France passed a law recognizing the killing of
Armenians as genocide in 2001.
WAVING VOTING CARDS
Thousands of Turks from across Europe demonstrated in central Paris
at the weekend and about 200 Franco-Turks protested Monday in front
of the Senate. They waved their French voting cards and banners with
slogans including: "It's not up to politicians to invent history."
The Socialist Party, which has had a majority in the Senate since
elections in the upper house late last year, and the Senate leader
of President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, which put forward the bill,
have said they will back the legislation.
But a non-binding Senate recommendation last week said the law would
be unconstitutional and, after weeks of aggressive Turkish lobbying,
there are suggestions the outcome will be closer than anticipated.
If adopted, Sarkozy should then ratify the bill with the process to
be completed before parliament is suspended in February ahead of the
presidential election.
It could still be rejected if some 60 lawmakers agree to appeal the
decision at the country's highest court and that body considers the
text unconstitutional. The Constitutional Council would have one
month to make its decision.
Sarkozy wrote to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan last week
saying the bill did not single out any country and that Paris was
aware of the "suffering endured by the Turkish people" during the
final years of the Ottoman empire.
French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero called on Turkey not
to overreact and said Paris considered Ankara a "very important ally."
Engin Solakoglu, first secretary at the Turkish embassy in Paris, said:
"France can't continue to say that Turkey is an important ally when
it votes laws against it."
European Union candidate Turkey could not impose economic sanctions
on France, given its World Trade Organization membership and customs
union accord with Europe.
But the row could cost France state-to-state contracts and would create
diplomatic tension as Turkey takes an increasingly influential role
in the Middle East.
(Additional reporting by Lucien Libert in Paris, Gilbert Reilhac in
Strasbourg and Daren Butler in Istanbul)