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FRANCE ADOPTS ARMENIAN LAW MAKING IT ILLEGAL TO DENY WW1 TURKISH GENOCIDE
Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090886/France-adopts-Armenian-law-making-illegal-deny-WW1-Turkish-genocide.html
Jan 24 2012
UK
French senators have voted to adopt a controversial bill making it
illegal to deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
was genocide.
The measure - which was passed by 127 for votes to 86 against -
will increase diplomatic tensions between Turkey and France, two
Nato allies.
Last night riot police were stationed all over Paris, where thousands
of Turks had descended to protest against the new law.
MPS in the lower National Assembly in December voted overwhelmingly
in favour of the draft law.
This prompted the Turkish government to cancel all economic, political
and military meetings with the French, and to recall its ambassador
for consultations.
Armenians supported by historians believes that about 1.5 million
Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during
the First World War.
They believe that this was part of a deliberate policy of genocide
ordered by the Ottoman Turk government.
The Ottoman Empire was dissolved after the 1914-18 war, and successive
Turkish governments have argued that claims of genocide are a direct
insult to their nation.
The majority of Turk argue that there was a heavy loss of life on
both sides during the fighting in the area, and that mass killing
was inevitable result of newly industrialised warfare.
Turkey's deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc said on Monday that
his government would take fresh diplomatic measures unless the bill
was rejected.
He compared France's behaviour to the Spanish Inquisition in the
Middle Ages, which was created by the Catholic Church to effectively
destroy heretics.
'If the law is passed, it will damage French and Turkish relations,'
said Mr Arinc, who suggested Turkey would try to get it repealed at
the European Court of Human Rights.
Many Turks believe the bill is an attempt by President Nicolas Sarkozy
to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France, as he hopes
to be re-elected in the Spring.
The new genocide bill threatens a year in jail and a maximum fine
45,000 euros to anyone who denies what is said to have happened to
the Armenians. France first passed a law recognising the killing of
Armenians as genocide in 2001.
Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090886/France-adopts-Armenian-law-making-illegal-deny-WW1-Turkish-genocide.html
Jan 24 2012
UK
French senators have voted to adopt a controversial bill making it
illegal to deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
was genocide.
The measure - which was passed by 127 for votes to 86 against -
will increase diplomatic tensions between Turkey and France, two
Nato allies.
Last night riot police were stationed all over Paris, where thousands
of Turks had descended to protest against the new law.
MPS in the lower National Assembly in December voted overwhelmingly
in favour of the draft law.
This prompted the Turkish government to cancel all economic, political
and military meetings with the French, and to recall its ambassador
for consultations.
Armenians supported by historians believes that about 1.5 million
Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during
the First World War.
They believe that this was part of a deliberate policy of genocide
ordered by the Ottoman Turk government.
The Ottoman Empire was dissolved after the 1914-18 war, and successive
Turkish governments have argued that claims of genocide are a direct
insult to their nation.
The majority of Turk argue that there was a heavy loss of life on
both sides during the fighting in the area, and that mass killing
was inevitable result of newly industrialised warfare.
Turkey's deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc said on Monday that
his government would take fresh diplomatic measures unless the bill
was rejected.
He compared France's behaviour to the Spanish Inquisition in the
Middle Ages, which was created by the Catholic Church to effectively
destroy heretics.
'If the law is passed, it will damage French and Turkish relations,'
said Mr Arinc, who suggested Turkey would try to get it repealed at
the European Court of Human Rights.
Many Turks believe the bill is an attempt by President Nicolas Sarkozy
to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France, as he hopes
to be re-elected in the Spring.
The new genocide bill threatens a year in jail and a maximum fine
45,000 euros to anyone who denies what is said to have happened to
the Armenians. France first passed a law recognising the killing of
Armenians as genocide in 2001.