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FRANCE ACCUSED OF 'RACIST' LEGISLATION
by Alexander Christie-Miller
The Times (London)
Jan 25 2012
UK
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a furious
attack against France, accusing it of passing "racist" legislation
to outlaw genocide denial.
In an indication of the deepening crisis between the two Nato allies,
Mr Erdogan threatened to punish Paris for the law passed by the French
Senate on Monday that makes it illegal to deny that the massacre of
some 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide.
"The proposal adopted in France is tantamount to discrimination and
racism, and it massacres freedom of thought," Mr Erdogan said in a
speech to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party.
He warned that Ankara would retaliate "step by step, without any
retreat" and impose unspecified sanctions on France if President
Nicolas Sarkozy Enhanced Coverage LinkingNicolas Sarkozy -Search
using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Dayssigns the Bill
into law, as he is obliged to do within two weeks.
"Those who fall silent against such measures will be turning a deaf ear
to the footsteps of approaching fascism in Europe," Mr Erdogan added.
The legislation makes it an offence punishable by prison to deny any
genocide formally regarded as such by France, including the so-called
Armenian Genocide, formally recognised by 20 nations, although not
by Britain.
Under the law, genocide denial in France will now carry a jail term
of up to one year, and a (EURO)45,000 (£37,500) fine.
Turkey has long claimed that the pogroms in which up to 1.5 million
Armenians died in eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1916 were not
a genocide, arguing that the killings occurred in the context of
an interethnic conflict in which many Turks also died. But a broad
consensus of international historians believe the killings were part
of a campaign of systematic extermination.
Turkish media and large sections of the public have reacted with
fury to the law. The daily Sozcu newspaper ran with the headline
"Sarkozy the Satan".
Ankara Municipality has vowed to abolish French street names in the
city and to erect a memorial close to the French embassy to commemorate
France's own "genocide" during its colonial occupation of Algeria.
Alain Juppe, the French Foreign Minister who has publicly opposed the
genocide Bill, called for Turkey to show restraint. "Today I'd like to
call on our Turkish friends to keep their composure," he said. "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."
But Ankara has warned that unless the Bill is challenged by France's
Constitutional Court - a measure requiring the support of 60 senators -
then it will introduce a prearranged programme of as yet unspecified
sanctions.
"If the Bill is not taken to the Constitutional Council and finalised,
Turkish-French relations will be dealt a heavy blow," said the Turkish
President, Abdullah Gul.
From: A. Papazian
by Alexander Christie-Miller
The Times (London)
Jan 25 2012
UK
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a furious
attack against France, accusing it of passing "racist" legislation
to outlaw genocide denial.
In an indication of the deepening crisis between the two Nato allies,
Mr Erdogan threatened to punish Paris for the law passed by the French
Senate on Monday that makes it illegal to deny that the massacre of
some 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide.
"The proposal adopted in France is tantamount to discrimination and
racism, and it massacres freedom of thought," Mr Erdogan said in a
speech to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party.
He warned that Ankara would retaliate "step by step, without any
retreat" and impose unspecified sanctions on France if President
Nicolas Sarkozy Enhanced Coverage LinkingNicolas Sarkozy -Search
using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Dayssigns the Bill
into law, as he is obliged to do within two weeks.
"Those who fall silent against such measures will be turning a deaf ear
to the footsteps of approaching fascism in Europe," Mr Erdogan added.
The legislation makes it an offence punishable by prison to deny any
genocide formally regarded as such by France, including the so-called
Armenian Genocide, formally recognised by 20 nations, although not
by Britain.
Under the law, genocide denial in France will now carry a jail term
of up to one year, and a (EURO)45,000 (£37,500) fine.
Turkey has long claimed that the pogroms in which up to 1.5 million
Armenians died in eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1916 were not
a genocide, arguing that the killings occurred in the context of
an interethnic conflict in which many Turks also died. But a broad
consensus of international historians believe the killings were part
of a campaign of systematic extermination.
Turkish media and large sections of the public have reacted with
fury to the law. The daily Sozcu newspaper ran with the headline
"Sarkozy the Satan".
Ankara Municipality has vowed to abolish French street names in the
city and to erect a memorial close to the French embassy to commemorate
France's own "genocide" during its colonial occupation of Algeria.
Alain Juppe, the French Foreign Minister who has publicly opposed the
genocide Bill, called for Turkey to show restraint. "Today I'd like to
call on our Turkish friends to keep their composure," he said. "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."
But Ankara has warned that unless the Bill is challenged by France's
Constitutional Court - a measure requiring the support of 60 senators -
then it will introduce a prearranged programme of as yet unspecified
sanctions.
"If the Bill is not taken to the Constitutional Council and finalised,
Turkish-French relations will be dealt a heavy blow," said the Turkish
President, Abdullah Gul.
From: A. Papazian