Tweet
TURKS FUME AT SARKOZY AND FRANCE
by PATRICK COCKBURN
CounterPunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/27/turks-fume-at-sarkozy-and-france/
Jan 27 2012
Prison for Deniers of Armenian Genocide
Turkey warned yesterday that it would impose permanent sanctions on
France if a bill being discussed by the French Senate, which would
punish with prison and a fine anybody denying that the killing of
over one million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide,
was passed into law.
"Turkey will continue to implement sanctions so long as this bill
remains in motion," the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said
before the debate. Turkey briefly withdrew its ambassador to France
and placed sanctions on economic, political and military cooperation
with France when the bill passed the French lower house last month. It
would criminalize denial of the genocide, making offenders liable to
a one-year prison term and a 45,000 Euro fine. Mr Sarkozy's office
said that the law would come into effect in two weeks.
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 French
President Nicolas Sarkozy to win the vote of the 500,000-strong French
Armenian community before the French presidential election later this
year. "Turkey is no longer the Turkey of 2001," Mr Davotoglu said,
emphasizing that Turkey is much stronger today than it was in the
year when the French parliament first recognized the Armenian genocide.
In a tea house in the Bayoglu district of central 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 war time. 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 the 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."
Some Turkish historians have moved far in establishing the facts
about the Ottoman's government's instructions for the massacre of
the Armenians in 1915. The exact number killed in shootings or death
marches 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
of the Ottoman government leaders and recently published recorded a
drop in the Armenian population of the Empire from 1,256,000 in 1914
to 284,157 in 1916.
In the past Turkey had contended that the figures for the dead are
exaggerated or that the Armenians were collateral damage, killed in
military operations and not on orders from the government.
Cengiz Aktar, a professor of political science at Bahcesehir University
in Istanbul, says that what happened to the Armenians was part of
"the religious cleansing that happened with a view to create a
homogenous state based on Islam. Non-Muslims had no place in the new
nation." He said it would be very difficult for Turkey to admit this
now and when the demand "comes from France, especially from Sarkozy,
people here take it badly."
Professor Aktar said there were three other reasons why the Armenian
genocide could not be admitted by Turkey. Those who carried it out
had continued to work for the government in senior positions. The
cleansing did not stop in 1923 and surviving Armenians, who still
numbered 300,000, were still being pushed out of Turkey for years
afterwards. Thirdly, "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," says Prof Aktar. He adds that the
authorities have made sure there were no attacks on those taking part
in commemorations of "Genocide Day" on April 24. He believes that
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.
He says "the genie is out of the bottle."
Armenians in Istanbul say they are treated with greater tolerance than
five years ago, partly because of the general outrage over the murder
of Hrant Dink. "Before Armenians were second class citizens in Turkey
and now they aren't," said Armen Kalk. There are signs of some state
support for the Armenian community such as at Vortods Vorodmans,
a previously derelict church opposite the Armenian Patriarchate
in Istanbul. It re-opened a month ago after being restored by the
government and has just been used for a concert.
Armenians in Istanbul are sceptical about the motives of France on
the genocide. One Armenian cafe owner said "it is all politics. It
is a storm in a glass."
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed his
personal attack on French President Nicolas Sarkozy for racism and
anti-Turkish behavior.
Mr Erdogan said yesterday that Turkish retaliation would be held back
since France might "correct its mistake". This appears unlikely to
happen so Turkey may move to withdraw its ambassador and ban French
military aircraft and naval vessels from entering Turkish airspace
or waters. More damagingly, Turkey could stop placing large defense
orders with French firms and exclude France from winning contracts
for nuclear power stations and other big projects.
"What has happened is an effort to gain votes through
anti-Turkishness," Mr Erdogan told his AK Party's members of
parliament. The French presidential election is on April 22 and
May 6 and Mr Erdogan and most Turks believe he is trying to win
the 500,000-strong Armenian vote. As in the past, the Turkish prime
minister turned on Mr Sarkozy personally, saying that his grandfather
had been part of the Jewish community in Thessaloniki that had been
given refuge by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th Century after being
expelled from Spain by the Inquisition. He said that Mr Sarkozy
"regardless of how much anti-Turkish feeling he display, his history
coincides with the history of Turkey."
Mr Erdogan and many Turks have developed a visceral loathing for
Mr Sarkozy, who has also played a leading role in keeping Turkey
out of the European Union. He famously said that every school child
knew that Europe ended at the Bosphorus. When the French lower house
of Parliament first passed the Bill, Mr Erdogan accused France of
massacring 15 per cent of the Algerian population after 1945. He
scornfully added that Mr Sarkozy's father had been a soldier in
Algeria at the time and "I am sure has plenty of time to tell his
son about it."
The French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, who was personally against
the new law, said it was "ill-timed", but called on Ankara to remain
calm. "We have very important economic and trade ties," Juppe added.
"I hope the reality of the situation will not be usurped by emotions."
The mayor of Ankara has suggested changing the name of the street the
French embassy is in to Algeria Street and erecting nearby a memorial
to Algerian victims of French colonial oppression.
There is a limit to what Turkey can do without damaging itself since
France is its fifth biggest export market and bilateral trade in
the first ten months of last year was $13.5 billion. France is also
a significant investor in Turkey at a time when there are fears that
the foreign investment that has driven Turkey's high growth may begin
to flow out of the country. The Turkish government may wait to see
if the new law will eventually be declared unconstitutional before
introducing long term sanctions.
PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of "Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia
Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq.
by PATRICK COCKBURN
CounterPunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/27/turks-fume-at-sarkozy-and-france/
Jan 27 2012
Prison for Deniers of Armenian Genocide
Turkey warned yesterday that it would impose permanent sanctions on
France if a bill being discussed by the French Senate, which would
punish with prison and a fine anybody denying that the killing of
over one million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 was genocide,
was passed into law.
"Turkey will continue to implement sanctions so long as this bill
remains in motion," the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said
before the debate. Turkey briefly withdrew its ambassador to France
and placed sanctions on economic, political and military cooperation
with France when the bill passed the French lower house last month. It
would criminalize denial of the genocide, making offenders liable to
a one-year prison term and a 45,000 Euro fine. Mr Sarkozy's office
said that the law would come into effect in two weeks.
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 French
President Nicolas Sarkozy to win the vote of the 500,000-strong French
Armenian community before the French presidential election later this
year. "Turkey is no longer the Turkey of 2001," Mr Davotoglu said,
emphasizing that Turkey is much stronger today than it was in the
year when the French parliament first recognized the Armenian genocide.
In a tea house in the Bayoglu district of central 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 war time. 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 the 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."
Some Turkish historians have moved far in establishing the facts
about the Ottoman's government's instructions for the massacre of
the Armenians in 1915. The exact number killed in shootings or death
marches 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
of the Ottoman government leaders and recently published recorded a
drop in the Armenian population of the Empire from 1,256,000 in 1914
to 284,157 in 1916.
In the past Turkey had contended that the figures for the dead are
exaggerated or that the Armenians were collateral damage, killed in
military operations and not on orders from the government.
Cengiz Aktar, a professor of political science at Bahcesehir University
in Istanbul, says that what happened to the Armenians was part of
"the religious cleansing that happened with a view to create a
homogenous state based on Islam. Non-Muslims had no place in the new
nation." He said it would be very difficult for Turkey to admit this
now and when the demand "comes from France, especially from Sarkozy,
people here take it badly."
Professor Aktar said there were three other reasons why the Armenian
genocide could not be admitted by Turkey. Those who carried it out
had continued to work for the government in senior positions. The
cleansing did not stop in 1923 and surviving Armenians, who still
numbered 300,000, were still being pushed out of Turkey for years
afterwards. Thirdly, "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," says Prof Aktar. He adds that the
authorities have made sure there were no attacks on those taking part
in commemorations of "Genocide Day" on April 24. He believes that
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.
He says "the genie is out of the bottle."
Armenians in Istanbul say they are treated with greater tolerance than
five years ago, partly because of the general outrage over the murder
of Hrant Dink. "Before Armenians were second class citizens in Turkey
and now they aren't," said Armen Kalk. There are signs of some state
support for the Armenian community such as at Vortods Vorodmans,
a previously derelict church opposite the Armenian Patriarchate
in Istanbul. It re-opened a month ago after being restored by the
government and has just been used for a concert.
Armenians in Istanbul are sceptical about the motives of France on
the genocide. One Armenian cafe owner said "it is all politics. It
is a storm in a glass."
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed his
personal attack on French President Nicolas Sarkozy for racism and
anti-Turkish behavior.
Mr Erdogan said yesterday that Turkish retaliation would be held back
since France might "correct its mistake". This appears unlikely to
happen so Turkey may move to withdraw its ambassador and ban French
military aircraft and naval vessels from entering Turkish airspace
or waters. More damagingly, Turkey could stop placing large defense
orders with French firms and exclude France from winning contracts
for nuclear power stations and other big projects.
"What has happened is an effort to gain votes through
anti-Turkishness," Mr Erdogan told his AK Party's members of
parliament. The French presidential election is on April 22 and
May 6 and Mr Erdogan and most Turks believe he is trying to win
the 500,000-strong Armenian vote. As in the past, the Turkish prime
minister turned on Mr Sarkozy personally, saying that his grandfather
had been part of the Jewish community in Thessaloniki that had been
given refuge by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th Century after being
expelled from Spain by the Inquisition. He said that Mr Sarkozy
"regardless of how much anti-Turkish feeling he display, his history
coincides with the history of Turkey."
Mr Erdogan and many Turks have developed a visceral loathing for
Mr Sarkozy, who has also played a leading role in keeping Turkey
out of the European Union. He famously said that every school child
knew that Europe ended at the Bosphorus. When the French lower house
of Parliament first passed the Bill, Mr Erdogan accused France of
massacring 15 per cent of the Algerian population after 1945. He
scornfully added that Mr Sarkozy's father had been a soldier in
Algeria at the time and "I am sure has plenty of time to tell his
son about it."
The French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, who was personally against
the new law, said it was "ill-timed", but called on Ankara to remain
calm. "We have very important economic and trade ties," Juppe added.
"I hope the reality of the situation will not be usurped by emotions."
The mayor of Ankara has suggested changing the name of the street the
French embassy is in to Algeria Street and erecting nearby a memorial
to Algerian victims of French colonial oppression.
There is a limit to what Turkey can do without damaging itself since
France is its fifth biggest export market and bilateral trade in
the first ten months of last year was $13.5 billion. France is also
a significant investor in Turkey at a time when there are fears that
the foreign investment that has driven Turkey's high growth may begin
to flow out of the country. The Turkish government may wait to see
if the new law will eventually be declared unconstitutional before
introducing long term sanctions.
PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of "Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia
Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq.