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TURKEY SLAMS FRANCE OVER 'GENOCIDE' BILL
By JOE PARKINSON and NADYA MASIDLOVER
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203718504577180341490461840.html
Jan 24 2012
NY
ISTANBUL-Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday
denounced French lawmakers as racist and vowed to retaliate after
they approved a bill making it a crime to deny that the 1915 massacre
of Armenians was genocide, marking the latest salvo in an escalating
diplomatic rift between Ankara and Paris.
Protesters in Paris Monday oppose a bill making it illegal to deny
the 1915 killing of Armenians was genocide.
In a speech to lawmakers from his governing AK Party in Ankara, Mr.
Erdogan did not spell out what retaliatory measures his government
would take, stressing that Turkey would remain patient and release
details based on developments.
"This is a racist decision. This is killing freedom of thought... We
won't let France gain credibility through this because their decision
means nothing to us. Our sanctions will be disclosed step by step."
Mr. Erdogan said, to rapturous applause from his party's lawmakers.
The comments are likely to add further strain to fast-fraying
diplomatic relations between France and Turkey, and raise the prospect
of a significant diplomatic rift between the two North Atlantic Treaty
Organization allies. In a sign that some senior French policy makers
are becoming nervous the spat is getting out of hand, France's Foreign
Minister Alain Juppe earlier on Tuesday downplayed the importance of
the vote and urged the Turkish government to remain calm.
The bill, which France's lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly
approved in December, was passed late Monday by a vote of 127 to 86.
It will require President Nicolas Sarkozy's signature in the next 15
days to become law.
The French move is set to make the denial of genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes that are recognized by French law punishable
by up to a year in prison and a ~@45,000 ($58,143) fine. The only two
mass killings recognized by French law as genocide are the killing of
Armenians during World War I and the Holocaust. Denying the Holocaust
is already illegal in France.
Attention now turns to what measures Ankara will impose against Paris,
and to what degree they will further escalate diplomatic tensions.
Turkey's government has remained tight lipped on details but Turkish
media on Tuesday reported that Ankara could permanently recall its
ambassador, stop French companies bidding for government contracts
and close Turkish waters and airspace to French ships and planes.
EU-candidate country Turkey can't impose economic sanctions on
France, because of its membership in the World Trade Organization and
customs-union agreement with Europe. But the row could cost France
profitable bilateral business contracts and would fuel diplomatic
tension as Turkey takes an increasingly influential role in the
Middle East.
Ankara reacted furiously when the lower house passed the bill last
month, withdrawing its ambassador from Paris and freezing political
and military relations.
Armenia praised the move, stressing that the day would "be written
in gold in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French
peoples, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of
human rights world-wide."
While many countries recognize the killing of as many as 1.5 million
Armenians in 1915 as genocide, Turkey contests the scale of the
losses and says they were casualties of war. It argues the genocide
issue should be left to historians to decide, rather than legislated
by governments.
Relations between the two countries were already frosty, in large
part because of Mr. Sarkozy's vocal opposition to Turkey's bid to
join the European Union.
Turkey's government has repeatedly insisted that the bill is
politically motivated, alleging Mr. Sarkozy was trying to win the
votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France ahead of presidential
elections in three months.
Before Mr. Sarkozy signs the bill into law, it can still be challenged
if lawmakers request a review by the country's constitutional council.
French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said on Tuesday that Mr.
Sarkozy was likely to sign the bill into law and stressed that France
wanted "to remain friends" with Turkey.
"In a republic like ours, when parliament votes a bill, it is signed
into law," Mr. Gueant said in an interview with local cable TV news
channel iTele.
Some lawmakers have argued that the text could be regarded as
unconstitutional, as the Armenian genocide has never been recognized
by an international or French court. That means the French law on
the Armenian genocide could be considered tantamount to legislating
on history, possibly impeding on historical research, critics said.
In 2001, the French Parliament voted to officially recognize the
Armenian genocide of 1915. Since then, French lawmakers have made
two unsuccessful attempts to pass bills making denial of the genocide
illegal. The most recent text was deemed unconstitutional and rejected
by the country's Senate last May.
Armenians say as many as 1.5 million Armenians were systematically
killed during World War I in today's eastern Turkey, which was then
part of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies the allegations and says
hundreds of thousands died in warfare and famine, and that many Turks
were also killed by Armenians.
By JOE PARKINSON and NADYA MASIDLOVER
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203718504577180341490461840.html
Jan 24 2012
NY
ISTANBUL-Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday
denounced French lawmakers as racist and vowed to retaliate after
they approved a bill making it a crime to deny that the 1915 massacre
of Armenians was genocide, marking the latest salvo in an escalating
diplomatic rift between Ankara and Paris.
Protesters in Paris Monday oppose a bill making it illegal to deny
the 1915 killing of Armenians was genocide.
In a speech to lawmakers from his governing AK Party in Ankara, Mr.
Erdogan did not spell out what retaliatory measures his government
would take, stressing that Turkey would remain patient and release
details based on developments.
"This is a racist decision. This is killing freedom of thought... We
won't let France gain credibility through this because their decision
means nothing to us. Our sanctions will be disclosed step by step."
Mr. Erdogan said, to rapturous applause from his party's lawmakers.
The comments are likely to add further strain to fast-fraying
diplomatic relations between France and Turkey, and raise the prospect
of a significant diplomatic rift between the two North Atlantic Treaty
Organization allies. In a sign that some senior French policy makers
are becoming nervous the spat is getting out of hand, France's Foreign
Minister Alain Juppe earlier on Tuesday downplayed the importance of
the vote and urged the Turkish government to remain calm.
The bill, which France's lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly
approved in December, was passed late Monday by a vote of 127 to 86.
It will require President Nicolas Sarkozy's signature in the next 15
days to become law.
The French move is set to make the denial of genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes that are recognized by French law punishable
by up to a year in prison and a ~@45,000 ($58,143) fine. The only two
mass killings recognized by French law as genocide are the killing of
Armenians during World War I and the Holocaust. Denying the Holocaust
is already illegal in France.
Attention now turns to what measures Ankara will impose against Paris,
and to what degree they will further escalate diplomatic tensions.
Turkey's government has remained tight lipped on details but Turkish
media on Tuesday reported that Ankara could permanently recall its
ambassador, stop French companies bidding for government contracts
and close Turkish waters and airspace to French ships and planes.
EU-candidate country Turkey can't impose economic sanctions on
France, because of its membership in the World Trade Organization and
customs-union agreement with Europe. But the row could cost France
profitable bilateral business contracts and would fuel diplomatic
tension as Turkey takes an increasingly influential role in the
Middle East.
Ankara reacted furiously when the lower house passed the bill last
month, withdrawing its ambassador from Paris and freezing political
and military relations.
Armenia praised the move, stressing that the day would "be written
in gold in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French
peoples, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of
human rights world-wide."
While many countries recognize the killing of as many as 1.5 million
Armenians in 1915 as genocide, Turkey contests the scale of the
losses and says they were casualties of war. It argues the genocide
issue should be left to historians to decide, rather than legislated
by governments.
Relations between the two countries were already frosty, in large
part because of Mr. Sarkozy's vocal opposition to Turkey's bid to
join the European Union.
Turkey's government has repeatedly insisted that the bill is
politically motivated, alleging Mr. Sarkozy was trying to win the
votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France ahead of presidential
elections in three months.
Before Mr. Sarkozy signs the bill into law, it can still be challenged
if lawmakers request a review by the country's constitutional council.
French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said on Tuesday that Mr.
Sarkozy was likely to sign the bill into law and stressed that France
wanted "to remain friends" with Turkey.
"In a republic like ours, when parliament votes a bill, it is signed
into law," Mr. Gueant said in an interview with local cable TV news
channel iTele.
Some lawmakers have argued that the text could be regarded as
unconstitutional, as the Armenian genocide has never been recognized
by an international or French court. That means the French law on
the Armenian genocide could be considered tantamount to legislating
on history, possibly impeding on historical research, critics said.
In 2001, the French Parliament voted to officially recognize the
Armenian genocide of 1915. Since then, French lawmakers have made
two unsuccessful attempts to pass bills making denial of the genocide
illegal. The most recent text was deemed unconstitutional and rejected
by the country's Senate last May.
Armenians say as many as 1.5 million Armenians were systematically
killed during World War I in today's eastern Turkey, which was then
part of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies the allegations and says
hundreds of thousands died in warfare and famine, and that many Turks
were also killed by Armenians.