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TURKEY WARNS OF REPRISALS OVER FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-warns-of-reprisals-over-french-genocide-bill-6293713.html?origin=internalSearch
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Threat of sanctions as French Senate debates law criminalising denial
of Armenian massacre
Patrick Cockburn Istanbul
Turkey warned yesterday that it would impose permanent sanctions on
France if the French Senate passed a Bill which would punish with
prison and a fine anyone denying that the killing of more than one
million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide.
"Turkey will continue to implement sanctions so long as this Bill
remains in motion," the Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said before
the debate. Turkey briefly withdrew its ambassador to Paris and placed
sanctions on economic, political and military co-operation with
France when the measure was approved last month by the lower house
of parliament, the National Assembly. If the Senate also passes the
Bill, which it was debating yesterday, offenders would be liable to
a one-year jail term and a fine of ~@45,000 (£37,200).
The French action has created extreme anger in Turkey where television
news channels gave continuous coverage to the Senate debate. Turkish
critics denounce the legislation as a cynical attempt by the French
President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to win the vote of the 500,000-strong
French Armenian community before presidential elections this year.
"Turkey is no longer the Turkey of 2001," said Mr Davotoglu,
emphasising that Turkey is far stronger today than it was when the
French parliament first recognised the Armenian genocide.
In a tea house in the Bayoglu district of Istanbul, an elderly man
who gave his name as Ali vehemently denounced Mr Sarkozy. "He plots
like the Devil," he said. "He wouldn't even pick up the phone to talk
to talk to our President. People do that even in wartime. He should
resign as leader of France."
The remaining Armenians in Turkey, believed to number about 70,000,
are not optimistic about the Turkish government ever admitting to the
genocide. At a march last week commemorating the fifth anniversary
of the murder of an Armenian-Turkish journalist, Hrant Dink, in 2007,
an Armenian woman, Mariam Kalk, said she did not expect any change.
"Turkish society is a very silent society," she said. "The state will
never admit to the Armenian massacre."
Cengiz Aktar, a professor of political science at Bahcesehir University
in Istanbul, said there were three reasons why Turkey could not admit
to the genocide. Those who carried it out continued to work for the
government in senior positions. The ethnic cleansing did not stop
in 1923 and surviving Armenians, who still numbered 300,000, were
being pushed out of Turkey for years afterwards. Thirdly, he said, "we
should not forget that the Armenians were often bourgeoisie and their
wealth was plundered". Nevertheless, the present government of Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown itself more tolerant than any
of its predecessors towards Armenians and other Christians in Turkey.
"The words 'Armenian genocide' are no longer taboo," said Prof Aktar,
adding that officials had made sure there were no attacks on those
taking part in "Genocide Day" commemorations on 24 April. He believes
there would be a nationalist backlash in Turkey if the French Bill was
passed into law, but that discussion of what happened would not cease.
"The genie is out of the bottle," he said.
Armenians in Istanbul say they are treated with greater tolerance than
five years ago, partly because of general outrage over the murder of
Mr Dink. "Before, Armenians were second-class citizens in Turkey and
now they aren't," said Armen Kalk, who marched last week.
There are signs of some state support for the Armenian community,
such as at Vortods Vorodmans, a once-derelict church opposite the
Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul. It re-opened a month ago after
being restored by the government.
A million dead: Armenian massacre
The massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces began in 1915. The exact
number killed in death marches or shootings is not known but historians
estimate the figure to be between 1.2 million and 1.4 million. A
document found in the papers of one Ottoman leader said the empire's
Armenian population fell from 1,256,000 in 1914 to 284,157 in 1916.
Turkey argues that the figures were exaggerated or that Armenians
were collateral damage, killed in military operations and not on the
state's orders. Cengiz Aktar, of Istanbul's Bahcesehir University,
says what happened to Armenians and other Christians was "religious
cleansing... to create a homogenous state based on Islam".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-warns-of-reprisals-over-french-genocide-bill-6293713.html?origin=internalSearch
Tuesday 24 January 2012
Threat of sanctions as French Senate debates law criminalising denial
of Armenian massacre
Patrick Cockburn Istanbul
Turkey warned yesterday that it would impose permanent sanctions on
France if the French Senate passed a Bill which would punish with
prison and a fine anyone denying that the killing of more than one
million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide.
"Turkey will continue to implement sanctions so long as this Bill
remains in motion," the Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said before
the debate. Turkey briefly withdrew its ambassador to Paris and placed
sanctions on economic, political and military co-operation with
France when the measure was approved last month by the lower house
of parliament, the National Assembly. If the Senate also passes the
Bill, which it was debating yesterday, offenders would be liable to
a one-year jail term and a fine of ~@45,000 (£37,200).
The French action has created extreme anger in Turkey where television
news channels gave continuous coverage to the Senate debate. Turkish
critics denounce the legislation as a cynical attempt by the French
President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to win the vote of the 500,000-strong
French Armenian community before presidential elections this year.
"Turkey is no longer the Turkey of 2001," said Mr Davotoglu,
emphasising that Turkey is far stronger today than it was when the
French parliament first recognised the Armenian genocide.
In a tea house in the Bayoglu district of Istanbul, an elderly man
who gave his name as Ali vehemently denounced Mr Sarkozy. "He plots
like the Devil," he said. "He wouldn't even pick up the phone to talk
to talk to our President. People do that even in wartime. He should
resign as leader of France."
The remaining Armenians in Turkey, believed to number about 70,000,
are not optimistic about the Turkish government ever admitting to the
genocide. At a march last week commemorating the fifth anniversary
of the murder of an Armenian-Turkish journalist, Hrant Dink, in 2007,
an Armenian woman, Mariam Kalk, said she did not expect any change.
"Turkish society is a very silent society," she said. "The state will
never admit to the Armenian massacre."
Cengiz Aktar, a professor of political science at Bahcesehir University
in Istanbul, said there were three reasons why Turkey could not admit
to the genocide. Those who carried it out continued to work for the
government in senior positions. The ethnic cleansing did not stop
in 1923 and surviving Armenians, who still numbered 300,000, were
being pushed out of Turkey for years afterwards. Thirdly, he said, "we
should not forget that the Armenians were often bourgeoisie and their
wealth was plundered". Nevertheless, the present government of Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown itself more tolerant than any
of its predecessors towards Armenians and other Christians in Turkey.
"The words 'Armenian genocide' are no longer taboo," said Prof Aktar,
adding that officials had made sure there were no attacks on those
taking part in "Genocide Day" commemorations on 24 April. He believes
there would be a nationalist backlash in Turkey if the French Bill was
passed into law, but that discussion of what happened would not cease.
"The genie is out of the bottle," he said.
Armenians in Istanbul say they are treated with greater tolerance than
five years ago, partly because of general outrage over the murder of
Mr Dink. "Before, Armenians were second-class citizens in Turkey and
now they aren't," said Armen Kalk, who marched last week.
There are signs of some state support for the Armenian community,
such as at Vortods Vorodmans, a once-derelict church opposite the
Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul. It re-opened a month ago after
being restored by the government.
A million dead: Armenian massacre
The massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces began in 1915. The exact
number killed in death marches or shootings is not known but historians
estimate the figure to be between 1.2 million and 1.4 million. A
document found in the papers of one Ottoman leader said the empire's
Armenian population fell from 1,256,000 in 1914 to 284,157 in 1916.
Turkey argues that the figures were exaggerated or that Armenians
were collateral damage, killed in military operations and not on the
state's orders. Cengiz Aktar, of Istanbul's Bahcesehir University,
says what happened to Armenians and other Christians was "religious
cleansing... to create a homogenous state based on Islam".