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TURKEY WARNS SARKOZY OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAW
By Gavriel Queenann
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152063
1/24/2012, 7:59 PM
Turkey continues to threaten France as President Nicolas Sarkozy
prepares to sign a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
WikipediaTurkey warned French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday
against signing a law that makes it a crime to deny that the killings
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago constituted
genocide.
France's parliament approved the bill late Monday over Turkish
objections. Officials in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government
insisted the vote didn't directly target the country.
Turkey, which sees the characterization of genocide for its
anti-Armenian pogroms as an insult to its national honor, has
already suspended military, economic and political ties with Paris,
and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when the lower house
of French parliament approved the same bill.
The Senate voted 127 to 86 to pass the bill late Monday. Twenty-four
people abstained. The measure sets a punishment of up to one year
in prison and a fine of C45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or
"outrageously minimize" the killings.
For some in France, the bill is part of a tradition of legislation
in some European countries, born of the agonies of the Holocaust,
which criminalizes the denial of genocide. Denying the Holocaust is
already a punishable crime in France.
Most historians contend that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million
Armenians as the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century's first
genocide, and several European countries recognize the massacres
as such. Switzerland has convicted people of racism for denying
the genocide.
The harsh crackdown came during an ongoing Russian-backed series
of Armenian rebellions in Turkey. Armenians call the massacre "The
Great Crime."
However, there are those who feel referring to the pogroms carried
out by Turkey against the Armenians Genocide cheapens the Holocaust as
the Jews of Europe were peaceful members of European society striving
to be good citizens.
Turkey's pogroms - The Great Crime - came in response to a widespread
Russian-backed Armenian rebellion.
Officials in Ankara say there was no systematic campaign to
kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic
disintegration of the empire. It also says that death toll is inflated.
Sarkozy, whose party supported the bill, must sign it into law,
but that is largely considered a formality.
The office of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned
that Turkey would take further, unspecified steps to punish France
if Sarkozy follows through.
Analysts say, however, with Sarkozy up for re-election and some
400,000 ethnic Armenians holding French citizenship he is unlikely
to be dissuaded.
By Gavriel Queenann
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152063
1/24/2012, 7:59 PM
Turkey continues to threaten France as President Nicolas Sarkozy
prepares to sign a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
WikipediaTurkey warned French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday
against signing a law that makes it a crime to deny that the killings
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago constituted
genocide.
France's parliament approved the bill late Monday over Turkish
objections. Officials in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government
insisted the vote didn't directly target the country.
Turkey, which sees the characterization of genocide for its
anti-Armenian pogroms as an insult to its national honor, has
already suspended military, economic and political ties with Paris,
and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when the lower house
of French parliament approved the same bill.
The Senate voted 127 to 86 to pass the bill late Monday. Twenty-four
people abstained. The measure sets a punishment of up to one year
in prison and a fine of C45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or
"outrageously minimize" the killings.
For some in France, the bill is part of a tradition of legislation
in some European countries, born of the agonies of the Holocaust,
which criminalizes the denial of genocide. Denying the Holocaust is
already a punishable crime in France.
Most historians contend that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million
Armenians as the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century's first
genocide, and several European countries recognize the massacres
as such. Switzerland has convicted people of racism for denying
the genocide.
The harsh crackdown came during an ongoing Russian-backed series
of Armenian rebellions in Turkey. Armenians call the massacre "The
Great Crime."
However, there are those who feel referring to the pogroms carried
out by Turkey against the Armenians Genocide cheapens the Holocaust as
the Jews of Europe were peaceful members of European society striving
to be good citizens.
Turkey's pogroms - The Great Crime - came in response to a widespread
Russian-backed Armenian rebellion.
Officials in Ankara say there was no systematic campaign to
kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic
disintegration of the empire. It also says that death toll is inflated.
Sarkozy, whose party supported the bill, must sign it into law,
but that is largely considered a formality.
The office of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned
that Turkey would take further, unspecified steps to punish France
if Sarkozy follows through.
Analysts say, however, with Sarkozy up for re-election and some
400,000 ethnic Armenians holding French citizenship he is unlikely
to be dissuaded.