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TURKEY WARNS FRANCE AGAINST NEW GENOCIDE LAW
Deutsche Welle Europe
February 29, 2012 Wednesday 10:53 PM EST
Germany
The French constitutional court has overthrown a law which would have
made it illegal to deny that a massacre of Armenians in Turkey was
genocide. Now the French government wants like to revise the law and
try again.
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and France were at stake as the
French constitutional court made its ruling on the genocide law. The
law would have made it illegal to deny that the killing of up to
1.5 million Christian Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1917
was genocide.
But the court ruled that the law was not in line with the
constitutional right to free speech. Had it passed, it would have
imposed a year in prison or a 45,000-euro ($65,000) fine on anyone
who denied the Armenian - or any other - genocide.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reacted with satisfaction. "I
hope that all sides have learnt from this," he said in Ankara. His
government will now check whether the economic and military sanctions
it imposed against France can be lifted.
But Turkish ambassador in Paris Engin Solakoglu didn't want to put
the argument to rest quite so quickly. He said France had worked
against Franco-Turkish interests, and promised, "We won't forget that."
'Unfortunate circumstances'
Turkey, successor to the Ottoman Empire, under whose rule the killing
occured, says that some 500,000 Armenians died in the confusion of the
First World War. It describes the deportations as "security measures
required by the war," necessary because the Armenians were supporting
Turkey's enemies and had committed massacres of Muslims. It says the
killings were due to "unfortunate circumstances" and were isolated
incidents.
Ankara has been protesting vehemently for months over France's
genocide law. Turkey described it as an election campaign ploy by
President Nicolas Sarkozy, in an attempt to win the support of the
nearly 500,000 citizens of Armenian origin. His challenger, Francois
Hollande, has also said he will take up the cause of the Armenians
should he win the election.
Sarkozy says he'll try again
Sarkozy has already told his government to draw up a new draft to
deal with the constitutional court's objections. But Jean-Francois
Cope, head of the governing UMP party, said Wednesday that there
wouldn't be enough time before the presidential elections in May
and the parliamentary elections in June. Sarkozy has said he'll meet
representatives of the Armenian community.
Davutoglu warned Sarkozy against making a second attempt at
implementing the law. He told the Turkish TV station TRT that this
would be a "declaration of war" against French law and the French
justice system.
Highly politicized
Since 1965, 22 states have declared the Armenian massacre a genocide
under the definition of the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide. Other
states, including Germany, avoid the term.
The German government responded to a question in parliament in
January 2010 by saying, "An evaluation of the results of research
should be left to experts. The government holds the view that the
task of coming to terms with the tragic events of 1915 and 1916 is
primarily an issue for the two countries involved, Turkey and Armenia."
Deutsche Welle Europe
February 29, 2012 Wednesday 10:53 PM EST
Germany
The French constitutional court has overthrown a law which would have
made it illegal to deny that a massacre of Armenians in Turkey was
genocide. Now the French government wants like to revise the law and
try again.
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and France were at stake as the
French constitutional court made its ruling on the genocide law. The
law would have made it illegal to deny that the killing of up to
1.5 million Christian Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1917
was genocide.
But the court ruled that the law was not in line with the
constitutional right to free speech. Had it passed, it would have
imposed a year in prison or a 45,000-euro ($65,000) fine on anyone
who denied the Armenian - or any other - genocide.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reacted with satisfaction. "I
hope that all sides have learnt from this," he said in Ankara. His
government will now check whether the economic and military sanctions
it imposed against France can be lifted.
But Turkish ambassador in Paris Engin Solakoglu didn't want to put
the argument to rest quite so quickly. He said France had worked
against Franco-Turkish interests, and promised, "We won't forget that."
'Unfortunate circumstances'
Turkey, successor to the Ottoman Empire, under whose rule the killing
occured, says that some 500,000 Armenians died in the confusion of the
First World War. It describes the deportations as "security measures
required by the war," necessary because the Armenians were supporting
Turkey's enemies and had committed massacres of Muslims. It says the
killings were due to "unfortunate circumstances" and were isolated
incidents.
Ankara has been protesting vehemently for months over France's
genocide law. Turkey described it as an election campaign ploy by
President Nicolas Sarkozy, in an attempt to win the support of the
nearly 500,000 citizens of Armenian origin. His challenger, Francois
Hollande, has also said he will take up the cause of the Armenians
should he win the election.
Sarkozy says he'll try again
Sarkozy has already told his government to draw up a new draft to
deal with the constitutional court's objections. But Jean-Francois
Cope, head of the governing UMP party, said Wednesday that there
wouldn't be enough time before the presidential elections in May
and the parliamentary elections in June. Sarkozy has said he'll meet
representatives of the Armenian community.
Davutoglu warned Sarkozy against making a second attempt at
implementing the law. He told the Turkish TV station TRT that this
would be a "declaration of war" against French law and the French
justice system.
Highly politicized
Since 1965, 22 states have declared the Armenian massacre a genocide
under the definition of the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide. Other
states, including Germany, avoid the term.
The German government responded to a question in parliament in
January 2010 by saying, "An evaluation of the results of research
should be left to experts. The government holds the view that the
task of coming to terms with the tragic events of 1915 and 1916 is
primarily an issue for the two countries involved, Turkey and Armenia."