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FRENCH SENATE PASSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAW
BBC
23 January 2012
Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Saturday
to demonstrate against the bill Continue reading the main story
The French Senate has approved a controversial bill that makes it a
criminal offence to deny that genocide was committed by Ottoman Turks
against Armenians during World War I.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-16 as the Ottoman
empire split. Turkey rejects the term genocide and says the number
was much smaller.
The measure will now be sent to President Sarkozy for final approval.
The bill's passage in the lower house caused major tensions with
Turkey.
Ankara froze ties with France after the vote last month and promised
further measures if the Senate backed the proposal.
In the event the Senate approved the bill by 127 votes to 86.
The BBC's correspondent in Istanbul, Jonathan Head, says stronger
Turkish measures could include the withdrawal of ambassadors and
creating more barriers to French businesses in Turkey.
In the first reaction from Ankara, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin
condemned the bill.
"The decision made by the Senate is a great injustice and shows total
lack of respect for Turkey," he told the CNN-Turk television channel.
The Turkish embassy in Paris warned that if President Sarkozy approved
the bill, the damage done to relations between the two countries
would be permanent.
"France is in the process of losing a strategic partner," Turkish
embassy spokesman, Engin Solakoglu, told AFP news agency.
Armenia described the vote as "historic".
"This day will be written in gold not only in the history of friendship
between the Armenian and French peoples, but also in the annals of the
history of the protection of human rights worldwide," said Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, in a statement carried by AFP.
Free speech
The Turkish government argues that judging what happened to the
Armenian community in eastern Turkey in 1915-16 should be left to
historians, and that the French law will restrict freedom of speech.
Analysis Jonathan Head
BBC News, Istanbul
President Sarkozy has sent a letter to the Turkish prime minister
stating that the law is not aimed at any country, but only at
addressing the past suffering of Armenians.
Ironically, events in the Middle East had started to bring France
and Turkey closer together: after initially squabbling over Libya,
they have both become leading supporters of the Syrian opposition.
But Turkish emotions over the Armenian issue run very high, and will
certainly eclipse any co-operation they might have had over Syria.
Turkish officials acknowledge that atrocities were committed but argue
that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Armenian people -
and that many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of the
events, in the middle of World War I.
France formally recognised the killings as genocide in 2001, one of
more than 20 countries which have done so.
The current bill means that anyone denying the deaths were genocide
would face a jail term and a fine of 45,000 euros (£29,000; $58,000).
The bill was put forward by President Sarkozy's UMP party.
France has half a million citizens of Armenian descent, and
correspondents say their votes may be important in this year's
presidential elections.
Ahead of the vote, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry called
for "calm," saying Turkey was a partner and a very important ally
of France.
BBC
23 January 2012
Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Saturday
to demonstrate against the bill Continue reading the main story
The French Senate has approved a controversial bill that makes it a
criminal offence to deny that genocide was committed by Ottoman Turks
against Armenians during World War I.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-16 as the Ottoman
empire split. Turkey rejects the term genocide and says the number
was much smaller.
The measure will now be sent to President Sarkozy for final approval.
The bill's passage in the lower house caused major tensions with
Turkey.
Ankara froze ties with France after the vote last month and promised
further measures if the Senate backed the proposal.
In the event the Senate approved the bill by 127 votes to 86.
The BBC's correspondent in Istanbul, Jonathan Head, says stronger
Turkish measures could include the withdrawal of ambassadors and
creating more barriers to French businesses in Turkey.
In the first reaction from Ankara, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin
condemned the bill.
"The decision made by the Senate is a great injustice and shows total
lack of respect for Turkey," he told the CNN-Turk television channel.
The Turkish embassy in Paris warned that if President Sarkozy approved
the bill, the damage done to relations between the two countries
would be permanent.
"France is in the process of losing a strategic partner," Turkish
embassy spokesman, Engin Solakoglu, told AFP news agency.
Armenia described the vote as "historic".
"This day will be written in gold not only in the history of friendship
between the Armenian and French peoples, but also in the annals of the
history of the protection of human rights worldwide," said Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, in a statement carried by AFP.
Free speech
The Turkish government argues that judging what happened to the
Armenian community in eastern Turkey in 1915-16 should be left to
historians, and that the French law will restrict freedom of speech.
Analysis Jonathan Head
BBC News, Istanbul
President Sarkozy has sent a letter to the Turkish prime minister
stating that the law is not aimed at any country, but only at
addressing the past suffering of Armenians.
Ironically, events in the Middle East had started to bring France
and Turkey closer together: after initially squabbling over Libya,
they have both become leading supporters of the Syrian opposition.
But Turkish emotions over the Armenian issue run very high, and will
certainly eclipse any co-operation they might have had over Syria.
Turkish officials acknowledge that atrocities were committed but argue
that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Armenian people -
and that many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of the
events, in the middle of World War I.
France formally recognised the killings as genocide in 2001, one of
more than 20 countries which have done so.
The current bill means that anyone denying the deaths were genocide
would face a jail term and a fine of 45,000 euros (£29,000; $58,000).
The bill was put forward by President Sarkozy's UMP party.
France has half a million citizens of Armenian descent, and
correspondents say their votes may be important in this year's
presidential elections.
Ahead of the vote, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry called
for "calm," saying Turkey was a partner and a very important ally
of France.