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ANKARA: Turkish FM Says Turks In Paris Made Their Voices Heard Again

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  • ANKARA: Turkish FM Says Turks In Paris Made Their Voices Heard Again

    TURKISH FM SAYS TURKS IN PARIS MADE THEIR VOICES HEARD AGAINST ARMENIAN BILL

    Anadolu Agency
    Jan 23 2012
    Turkey

    KAYSERI (A.A) - 22.01.2012 - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
    said thousands of Turks had made their voices heard in a protest march
    in Paris on Saturday against a French bill that makes it a crime to
    deny Armenian allegations on the Ottoman era incidents of 1915.

    "Tens of thousands of Turks made this historic event visible to entire
    France by crowding a 4.5-kilometre long avenue. Turkish nation is
    proud of its history and it will continue to be proud," Davutoglu
    told reporters in the central city of Kayseri.

    Despite rain and cold weather nearly 40 thousand Turks shunned the
    bill that penalizes denial of the Armenian allegations with a prison
    term of one year and a fine of 45 thousand euros.

    The bill is set to come to the Senate floor this coming Monday but
    French Senate members could vote to uphold a parliamentary committee
    decision and drop the bill off the agenda without even debating it.

    The protestors carried Turkish, Algerian, Azeri and French flags and
    urged senators to act against the legislation.

    "Leave dealing with history to historians," a banner read as protestors
    chanted slogans against French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

    "I have been living in France for fifty years and I haven't seen so
    many Turks got together. Turks in Europe for the first time had the
    chance to raise a strong voice against an injustice done to them,"
    said Demir Onger, head of a Paris-based Turkish culture association.

    Police took tight security measures at Place Denfert-Rochereau,
    the venue of the demonstration.

    A similar bill - proposed by the Socialist Party - was approved in
    2006 by the lower house but the Senate rejected to debate the bill
    last May when it upheld the committee's decision back then.

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