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FRANCE AT GOOD TERMS WITH TURKEY AGAIN: A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE?
Karine Ter-Sahakian
PanARMENIAN.Net
July 11, 2012
Coming to power, Socialists began to rectify the history they believed
had been wrong.
The situation turned out to be an expected one: Francois Hollande
preferred relations with Turkey to the Armenian issue. At a meeting
with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius declared: "As to events of 1915, we will not demonstrate
the position of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy's administration."
PanARMENIAN.Net - The new Foreign Minister of France is an interesting
personality, and his career may come to illustrate many of his
statements, both already voiced ones and those yet to come. So,
Wikipedia says:
Fabius, born in Paris, is the son of Louise (née Strasburger-Mortimer)
and André Fabius. His parents were Jewish and converted to
Catholicism, and Fabius was raised an assimilated Catholic. Has two
sons with his former spouse Francoise Castro.
After his studies at National School of Administration Fabius became
an auditor for the Council of State.
Member of the Socialist Party (PS) since 1974, he was first elected to
the National Assembly in 1978. He quickly gained entry to the circle
of Francois Mitterrand, the leader of the party.
When Mitterrand was elected president of France in 1981, Fabius was
nominated Minister of the Budget. In 1984, a government shake up by
Mitterrand led him to be appointed Prime Minister.
He advocated a new kind of French socialism which accepted the market
economy. The Fabius Government's inability to prevent both rising
unemployment and inequality arguably contributed to the defeat of the
French Socialists in the 1986 legislative election, which led Fabius
to step down as prime minister.
Fabius was the leader of the defeated no camp in the vote that took
place among the members of his party on December 1, 2004, to decide
the stance that the party would take on the impending Referendum on
the European Constitution. He went on to lead the rebel faction of the
party advocating a no vote in the 2005 Referendum, and was seen as the
spearhead of the whole no campaign in France. After the no vote won,
the party leader gave an assurance that he could remain in the party
though he was dismissed from the party's National Executive Committee.
Fabius was a candidate in the Socialist Party's primary election
to be the party's candidate in the 2007 presidential election, but
finished third.
He had once been in a relationship with Carla Bruni, now wife of
Nicolas Sarkozy. On May 17, 2012, Laurent Fabius became Foreign
Minister in the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault, appointed Prime
Minister by President Francois Hollande.
It would be totally wrong to link the statement of the French Foreign
Minister with his parentage or even the wish to "take revenge"
on ex-leader Sarkozy. Everything is much simpler. Coming to power,
Socialists began to rectify the history they believed had been wrong.
Actually, this is common for all socialist parties. Yet in this case,
the French Socialist Party went obviously wrong, failing to consider
all consequences of this statement on the Armenian Genocide. The
thing is not only the Armenian community in France which itself is a
serious factor already. In fact, Socialists followed Turkey's tastes,
and France can hardly be viewed as a superpower now.
A country that went to change a crucial priority of its policy, namely
the protection of human rights for the sake of weapon supply and
dubious support of Turkey in Syrian issue, is automatically becoming
a Turkish ally, will all successive consequences for Armenians.
In his "The Grand Chessboard - American Primacy and Its Geostrategic
Imperatives" book U.S. politician and sociologist Zbigniew BrzeziÅ~Dski
says:
"France is much weaker than Germany economically, while its military
establishment (as the Gulf War of 1991 showed) is not very competent.
It is good enough to squash internal coups in satellite
African states, but it can neither protect Europe nor project
significant power far from Europe. France is no more and no less than
a middle-rank European power."
This is what Francois Hollande and his cabinet come to prove.
According to Turkish media reports, tensions were high in
French-Turkish ties due to the bill criminalizing denial of the
Armenian Genocide. As Nicolas Sarkozy lost the battle at the recent
presidential vote, hopes emerged that the former bilateral relations
would be resumed. Davutoglu will give a lecture on "French-Turkish
relations in the changing international and regional environment" in
French Institute of International Relations in Paris. Also, the Turkish
foreign minister is quoted as saying: "If France wants to contribute
to the settlement of the Armenian issue, we are ready to work jointly."
Basically, France appeared to be more sincere than the U.S., which
pledges to recognize the Armenian Genocide every four years and then
well forgets its promises. Besides, on January 18, 2011 the French
National Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the
fact of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923. The
bill was endorsed by then president Shirac and became official paper.
The thing is that the failed bill criminalizing the denial of the
Armenian Genocide is for some reason considered to be a bill on
Genocide recognition.
If developments follow the same path, Laurent Fabius may further
declare that EU is ready for Turkish accession. Meanwhile, Francois
Hollande promised the Armenian community to get back to the much
debated denial bill...
Karine Ter-Sahakian
PanARMENIAN.Net
July 11, 2012
Coming to power, Socialists began to rectify the history they believed
had been wrong.
The situation turned out to be an expected one: Francois Hollande
preferred relations with Turkey to the Armenian issue. At a meeting
with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius declared: "As to events of 1915, we will not demonstrate
the position of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy's administration."
PanARMENIAN.Net - The new Foreign Minister of France is an interesting
personality, and his career may come to illustrate many of his
statements, both already voiced ones and those yet to come. So,
Wikipedia says:
Fabius, born in Paris, is the son of Louise (née Strasburger-Mortimer)
and André Fabius. His parents were Jewish and converted to
Catholicism, and Fabius was raised an assimilated Catholic. Has two
sons with his former spouse Francoise Castro.
After his studies at National School of Administration Fabius became
an auditor for the Council of State.
Member of the Socialist Party (PS) since 1974, he was first elected to
the National Assembly in 1978. He quickly gained entry to the circle
of Francois Mitterrand, the leader of the party.
When Mitterrand was elected president of France in 1981, Fabius was
nominated Minister of the Budget. In 1984, a government shake up by
Mitterrand led him to be appointed Prime Minister.
He advocated a new kind of French socialism which accepted the market
economy. The Fabius Government's inability to prevent both rising
unemployment and inequality arguably contributed to the defeat of the
French Socialists in the 1986 legislative election, which led Fabius
to step down as prime minister.
Fabius was the leader of the defeated no camp in the vote that took
place among the members of his party on December 1, 2004, to decide
the stance that the party would take on the impending Referendum on
the European Constitution. He went on to lead the rebel faction of the
party advocating a no vote in the 2005 Referendum, and was seen as the
spearhead of the whole no campaign in France. After the no vote won,
the party leader gave an assurance that he could remain in the party
though he was dismissed from the party's National Executive Committee.
Fabius was a candidate in the Socialist Party's primary election
to be the party's candidate in the 2007 presidential election, but
finished third.
He had once been in a relationship with Carla Bruni, now wife of
Nicolas Sarkozy. On May 17, 2012, Laurent Fabius became Foreign
Minister in the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault, appointed Prime
Minister by President Francois Hollande.
It would be totally wrong to link the statement of the French Foreign
Minister with his parentage or even the wish to "take revenge"
on ex-leader Sarkozy. Everything is much simpler. Coming to power,
Socialists began to rectify the history they believed had been wrong.
Actually, this is common for all socialist parties. Yet in this case,
the French Socialist Party went obviously wrong, failing to consider
all consequences of this statement on the Armenian Genocide. The
thing is not only the Armenian community in France which itself is a
serious factor already. In fact, Socialists followed Turkey's tastes,
and France can hardly be viewed as a superpower now.
A country that went to change a crucial priority of its policy, namely
the protection of human rights for the sake of weapon supply and
dubious support of Turkey in Syrian issue, is automatically becoming
a Turkish ally, will all successive consequences for Armenians.
In his "The Grand Chessboard - American Primacy and Its Geostrategic
Imperatives" book U.S. politician and sociologist Zbigniew BrzeziÅ~Dski
says:
"France is much weaker than Germany economically, while its military
establishment (as the Gulf War of 1991 showed) is not very competent.
It is good enough to squash internal coups in satellite
African states, but it can neither protect Europe nor project
significant power far from Europe. France is no more and no less than
a middle-rank European power."
This is what Francois Hollande and his cabinet come to prove.
According to Turkish media reports, tensions were high in
French-Turkish ties due to the bill criminalizing denial of the
Armenian Genocide. As Nicolas Sarkozy lost the battle at the recent
presidential vote, hopes emerged that the former bilateral relations
would be resumed. Davutoglu will give a lecture on "French-Turkish
relations in the changing international and regional environment" in
French Institute of International Relations in Paris. Also, the Turkish
foreign minister is quoted as saying: "If France wants to contribute
to the settlement of the Armenian issue, we are ready to work jointly."
Basically, France appeared to be more sincere than the U.S., which
pledges to recognize the Armenian Genocide every four years and then
well forgets its promises. Besides, on January 18, 2011 the French
National Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the
fact of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923. The
bill was endorsed by then president Shirac and became official paper.
The thing is that the failed bill criminalizing the denial of the
Armenian Genocide is for some reason considered to be a bill on
Genocide recognition.
If developments follow the same path, Laurent Fabius may further
declare that EU is ready for Turkish accession. Meanwhile, Francois
Hollande promised the Armenian community to get back to the much
debated denial bill...