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SARKOZY IS SATAN: TURKS RESPOND ANGRILY AFTER FRANCE APPROVES GENOCIDE LAW ON ARMENIA
Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091112/Nicolas-Sarkozy-Satan-Turks-respond-angrily-France-approves-Armenia-genocide-law.html
Jan 24 2012
UK
Turkish Prime Minister calls the law 'discriminatory and racist'
Turkey refutes Armenian claims that 1.5 million Armenians were killed
in 1915 as the Ottoman Empire broke up
Law would mean anyone who denies or 'outrageously minimize' the
killings faces up to a year in prison and a fine of ~@45k Riot police
guard French consulate in Turkey as tensions mount
By Daily Mail Reporter
Turkey threatened the France with retaliation after a controversial
bill to make it a crime to deny the mass murder of Armenians by the
Ottoman Turks moved a step closer to becoming law.
Turkey sees the allegations of genocide in 1915 as the Ottoman Empire
imploded as a threat to its national honour, insisting estimates of
the scale of the killing is exaggerated.
And the country reacted furiously when France's parliament approved
the legislation on Monday.
Sarkozy, whose party supported the bill, is now expected to sign the
bill into law by February.
Turkish press headlines slammed Sarkozy: '(He) massacred democracy,'
read the banner headline of the leading Hurriyet newspaper while the
Sozcu daily blasted 'Sarkozy the Satan.'
The law has also risked more sanctions from Turkey and is complicating
an already delicate relationship with the rising power.
Turkey has already suspended military, economic and political ties,
and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when the lower house
of parliament approved the same bill.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the decision, saying the
law should not be finalized to 'avoid this being recorded as part
of France's political, legal and moral mistakes.' If the law is
signed, 'we will not hesitate to implement, as we deem appropriate,
the measures that we have considered in advance,' Turkey's Foreign
Ministry said. It did not elaborate on the measures.
Armenians believe about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed
in what is now eastern Turkey during the First World War and this
was part of a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman
Turk government.
The majority of Turks 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.
The debate surrounding the measure comes in the highly charged run-up
to France's presidential elections this spring, and critics have
called the move a ploy by Sarkozy to garner the votes of the some
500,000 Armenians who live in France.
'It is further unfortunate that the historical ... relations
between the Republic of Turkey and France have been sacrificed to
considerations of political agenda,' Turkey said. 'It is quite clear
where the responsibility for this lies.'
Officials in Sarkozy's conservative government were in damage-control
mode on Tuesday, appealing to Turkey's government to keep its calm.
'As foreign minister, I think this initiative was a bit inopportune.
But the parliament has thus decided. What I'd like to do today is
call on our Turkish friends to keep their composure,' Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe said on Canal Plus TV.
'After this wave that has been a little bit excessive, I have to
say I'm convinced that we will return to constructive relations -
I extend my hand, I hope it will be taken one day.'
France's relations with Turkey are already strained, in large part
because Sarkozy opposes Turkey's entry into the European Union.
The law is likely to further sour relations with a NATO member that is
playing an increasingly important role in the international community's
response to the violence in Syria, the standoff over Iran's nuclear
program and peace negotiations in the Middle East.
The Senate voted 127 to 86 to pass the bill late Monday. Twenty-four
abstained. The measure sets a punishment of up to one year in prison
and a fine of ~@45,000 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,
that criminalizes the denial of genocides. 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.
But Turkey says that 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.
Some Turks said Turkey should retaliate in kind. Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the French of 'genocide'
during France's 132-year colonial rule in Algeria.
'I think our country should have retaliated in the same way after the
French Bill has passed,' Yilmaz Sesen, a chemist, told AP television
in Ankara. 'They have committed genocide in North Africa, and not
too long ago either.'
Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091112/Nicolas-Sarkozy-Satan-Turks-respond-angrily-France-approves-Armenia-genocide-law.html
Jan 24 2012
UK
Turkish Prime Minister calls the law 'discriminatory and racist'
Turkey refutes Armenian claims that 1.5 million Armenians were killed
in 1915 as the Ottoman Empire broke up
Law would mean anyone who denies or 'outrageously minimize' the
killings faces up to a year in prison and a fine of ~@45k Riot police
guard French consulate in Turkey as tensions mount
By Daily Mail Reporter
Turkey threatened the France with retaliation after a controversial
bill to make it a crime to deny the mass murder of Armenians by the
Ottoman Turks moved a step closer to becoming law.
Turkey sees the allegations of genocide in 1915 as the Ottoman Empire
imploded as a threat to its national honour, insisting estimates of
the scale of the killing is exaggerated.
And the country reacted furiously when France's parliament approved
the legislation on Monday.
Sarkozy, whose party supported the bill, is now expected to sign the
bill into law by February.
Turkish press headlines slammed Sarkozy: '(He) massacred democracy,'
read the banner headline of the leading Hurriyet newspaper while the
Sozcu daily blasted 'Sarkozy the Satan.'
The law has also risked more sanctions from Turkey and is complicating
an already delicate relationship with the rising power.
Turkey has already suspended military, economic and political ties,
and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when the lower house
of parliament approved the same bill.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the decision, saying the
law should not be finalized to 'avoid this being recorded as part
of France's political, legal and moral mistakes.' If the law is
signed, 'we will not hesitate to implement, as we deem appropriate,
the measures that we have considered in advance,' Turkey's Foreign
Ministry said. It did not elaborate on the measures.
Armenians believe about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed
in what is now eastern Turkey during the First World War and this
was part of a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman
Turk government.
The majority of Turks 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.
The debate surrounding the measure comes in the highly charged run-up
to France's presidential elections this spring, and critics have
called the move a ploy by Sarkozy to garner the votes of the some
500,000 Armenians who live in France.
'It is further unfortunate that the historical ... relations
between the Republic of Turkey and France have been sacrificed to
considerations of political agenda,' Turkey said. 'It is quite clear
where the responsibility for this lies.'
Officials in Sarkozy's conservative government were in damage-control
mode on Tuesday, appealing to Turkey's government to keep its calm.
'As foreign minister, I think this initiative was a bit inopportune.
But the parliament has thus decided. What I'd like to do today is
call on our Turkish friends to keep their composure,' Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe said on Canal Plus TV.
'After this wave that has been a little bit excessive, I have to
say I'm convinced that we will return to constructive relations -
I extend my hand, I hope it will be taken one day.'
France's relations with Turkey are already strained, in large part
because Sarkozy opposes Turkey's entry into the European Union.
The law is likely to further sour relations with a NATO member that is
playing an increasingly important role in the international community's
response to the violence in Syria, the standoff over Iran's nuclear
program and peace negotiations in the Middle East.
The Senate voted 127 to 86 to pass the bill late Monday. Twenty-four
abstained. The measure sets a punishment of up to one year in prison
and a fine of ~@45,000 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,
that criminalizes the denial of genocides. 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.
But Turkey says that 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.
Some Turks said Turkey should retaliate in kind. Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the French of 'genocide'
during France's 132-year colonial rule in Algeria.
'I think our country should have retaliated in the same way after the
French Bill has passed,' Yilmaz Sesen, a chemist, told AP television
in Ankara. 'They have committed genocide in North Africa, and not
too long ago either.'