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FRANCE TO VOTE ON ARMENIA 'GENOCIDE' BILL
Al Jazeera
Jan 23 2012
Qatar
Turkey warns French senate to reject bill that would make it illegal
to deny mass killings by Ottoman Turks in 1915.
French senators are set to vote on a bill that would make it illegal
to deny that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly
a century ago amounted to genocide.
Members of the French upper house were expected to debate the bill
on Monday, nearly a month after the French national assembly voted
overwhelmingly in favour of the draft law.
The scheduled vote prompted an angry response from Turkey, which has
vowed to punish the move with "permanent" sanctions if it is passed
into law.
Ankara froze political and military ties with France after the lower
house vote and it promised further measures if the measure is passed
by the senate or is approved by President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose
right-wing UMP party put forward the bill.
Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, on Saturday repeated
Ankara's opposition to the bill, saying it went against European
values and would not help Turkish-Armenian relations.
"There will be more sanctions and this time, the sanctions will be
permanent, until the change in French position," he said.
"It is time for French intellectuals, for French senators to defend
our common values, freedom of expression. These are European, French
values. This is against these values."
Heightening tensions
Around 15,000 Turks from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg rallied on the streets of Paris on Saturday to protest
against the law.
Davutoglu cancelled a trip to Brussels on Monday to brief EU foreign
ministers on his visit to Tehran before they were due to vote on
further sanctions against Iran, saying he wanted to follow the
French vote.
In a bid to defuse the crisis, Sarkozy sent a conciliatory letter
to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, released by the
French embassy in Ankara on Friday.
"I hope we can make reason prevail and maintain our dialogue, as
befits allied and friendly countries," Sarkozy wrote, adding that
the measure was "in no way aimed at any state or people in particular".
Erdogan, however, accused Sarkozy of using the vote to pursue
electoral gains.
"We cannot understand how Sarkozy can sacrifice a decision that should
be made by historians for his own personal electoral gains. We will
of course take some decisions according to the outcome of the vote
at Senate, " he said.
"I hope the Senate will not make France a country contradicting its
own values."
Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesperson, said that
France was "appeal[ing] for calm" from Turkey over the vote.
'Untimely' bill
Sarkozy expressed a wish that Turkey "assess the common interests
which unite our two countries and our two peoples".
A French senate committee on Wednesday rejected the bill, but their
vote was not expected to prevent the bill becoming law.
The senate's Commission of Laws voted 23 to nine, with eight
abstentions, that such a bill could violate constitutional protections,
including freedom of speech.
Even if the senate does reject the bill, the more powerful national
assembly could resurrect the bill and try again.
The bill has not won universal support in the government, where some
ministers fear it will hurt diplomatic and trade ties with a NATO
ally and major economic partner.
Sarkozy's foreign minister, Alain Juppe, has admitted the bill is
"untimely".
France recognised the killings as genocide in 2001, but the new bill
would go further, by punishing anyone who denies this with a year in
jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).
Armenia says that at least 1.5 million Armenians died when Ottoman
Turks deported them from eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert and
elsewhere in 1915 to 1916. They were killed or died from starvation
or disease.
Turkey estimates the total to be about 300,000. It admits that
atrocities were committed but argues that there was no systematic
attempt to destroy the Armenian people and argues that many people
on both sides died amid the chaos of World War I, in which all sides
suffered.
Al Jazeera
Jan 23 2012
Qatar
Turkey warns French senate to reject bill that would make it illegal
to deny mass killings by Ottoman Turks in 1915.
French senators are set to vote on a bill that would make it illegal
to deny that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly
a century ago amounted to genocide.
Members of the French upper house were expected to debate the bill
on Monday, nearly a month after the French national assembly voted
overwhelmingly in favour of the draft law.
The scheduled vote prompted an angry response from Turkey, which has
vowed to punish the move with "permanent" sanctions if it is passed
into law.
Ankara froze political and military ties with France after the lower
house vote and it promised further measures if the measure is passed
by the senate or is approved by President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose
right-wing UMP party put forward the bill.
Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, on Saturday repeated
Ankara's opposition to the bill, saying it went against European
values and would not help Turkish-Armenian relations.
"There will be more sanctions and this time, the sanctions will be
permanent, until the change in French position," he said.
"It is time for French intellectuals, for French senators to defend
our common values, freedom of expression. These are European, French
values. This is against these values."
Heightening tensions
Around 15,000 Turks from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg rallied on the streets of Paris on Saturday to protest
against the law.
Davutoglu cancelled a trip to Brussels on Monday to brief EU foreign
ministers on his visit to Tehran before they were due to vote on
further sanctions against Iran, saying he wanted to follow the
French vote.
In a bid to defuse the crisis, Sarkozy sent a conciliatory letter
to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, released by the
French embassy in Ankara on Friday.
"I hope we can make reason prevail and maintain our dialogue, as
befits allied and friendly countries," Sarkozy wrote, adding that
the measure was "in no way aimed at any state or people in particular".
Erdogan, however, accused Sarkozy of using the vote to pursue
electoral gains.
"We cannot understand how Sarkozy can sacrifice a decision that should
be made by historians for his own personal electoral gains. We will
of course take some decisions according to the outcome of the vote
at Senate, " he said.
"I hope the Senate will not make France a country contradicting its
own values."
Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesperson, said that
France was "appeal[ing] for calm" from Turkey over the vote.
'Untimely' bill
Sarkozy expressed a wish that Turkey "assess the common interests
which unite our two countries and our two peoples".
A French senate committee on Wednesday rejected the bill, but their
vote was not expected to prevent the bill becoming law.
The senate's Commission of Laws voted 23 to nine, with eight
abstentions, that such a bill could violate constitutional protections,
including freedom of speech.
Even if the senate does reject the bill, the more powerful national
assembly could resurrect the bill and try again.
The bill has not won universal support in the government, where some
ministers fear it will hurt diplomatic and trade ties with a NATO
ally and major economic partner.
Sarkozy's foreign minister, Alain Juppe, has admitted the bill is
"untimely".
France recognised the killings as genocide in 2001, but the new bill
would go further, by punishing anyone who denies this with a year in
jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).
Armenia says that at least 1.5 million Armenians died when Ottoman
Turks deported them from eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert and
elsewhere in 1915 to 1916. They were killed or died from starvation
or disease.
Turkey estimates the total to be about 300,000. It admits that
atrocities were committed but argues that there was no systematic
attempt to destroy the Armenian people and argues that many people
on both sides died amid the chaos of World War I, in which all sides
suffered.