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CONFUSION OVER VOW ON GENOCIDE DENIAL LAW
The Scotsman
http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/confusion-over-vow-on-genocide-denial-law-1-2401925
July 10 2012
UK
French president Francois Hollande will stand by a campaign pledge
to make it illegal to deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915 was genocide, his office said, days after his foreign
minister said the law had been abandoned.
Relations between Paris and Ankara had begun to thaw after a decision
in February by France's constitutional court to strike down the
genocide denial law as contrary to free speech.
Turkey had cancelled all economic, political and military meetings
with France in December after the French parliament voted in favour
of the draft law.
At a joint news conference last week, French foreign minister Laurent
Fabius said the law was unlikely to be resurrected and Turkish
foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu hailed the opening of a warmer phase
in relations.
But Mr Hollande's office said yesterday the president would stand by
his pledge, made to French Armenians while on the campaign trail. A
source said: "The position is very clear, the commitment will be met."
Turkish president Abdullah Gul said Ankara was not prepared to act
on unconfirmed reports and said recent meetings in Paris had been
positive.
"We will follow it and let's see what the result will be," he said.
Given the likelihood that the constitutional court would reject a new
law, weekly newspaper JDD reported that Mr Hollande's government was
examining alternative legal means, including an official decree.
Armenia says about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in
what is now eastern Turkey during the First World War in a policy
of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government. Successive Turkish
governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide
is an insult to their nation.
The Scotsman
http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/confusion-over-vow-on-genocide-denial-law-1-2401925
July 10 2012
UK
French president Francois Hollande will stand by a campaign pledge
to make it illegal to deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915 was genocide, his office said, days after his foreign
minister said the law had been abandoned.
Relations between Paris and Ankara had begun to thaw after a decision
in February by France's constitutional court to strike down the
genocide denial law as contrary to free speech.
Turkey had cancelled all economic, political and military meetings
with France in December after the French parliament voted in favour
of the draft law.
At a joint news conference last week, French foreign minister Laurent
Fabius said the law was unlikely to be resurrected and Turkish
foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu hailed the opening of a warmer phase
in relations.
But Mr Hollande's office said yesterday the president would stand by
his pledge, made to French Armenians while on the campaign trail. A
source said: "The position is very clear, the commitment will be met."
Turkish president Abdullah Gul said Ankara was not prepared to act
on unconfirmed reports and said recent meetings in Paris had been
positive.
"We will follow it and let's see what the result will be," he said.
Given the likelihood that the constitutional court would reject a new
law, weekly newspaper JDD reported that Mr Hollande's government was
examining alternative legal means, including an official decree.
Armenia says about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in
what is now eastern Turkey during the First World War in a policy
of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government. Successive Turkish
governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide
is an insult to their nation.