Tweet
TURKEY THREATENS MORE SANCTIONS OVER FRENCH GENOCIDE LAW
By Nikolaj Nielsen
EU Observer
http://euobserver.com/9/114997
Jan 24 2012
Belgium
BRUSSELS - French senators on Monday (23 January) voted in a bill to
outlaw denial of the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks in 1915, prompting strong threats of economic retaliation
from Ankara.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is widely expected to ratify the new measure
in February in a move that Turkey said it would punish with "permanent
sanctions if it is passed to law."
"This is totally unfair ... The historical interpretation of events
cannot be judged by French legislation. No parliament has such a
right nor such a competence," Turkey's spokesperson for foreign
affairs Selcuk Unal told EUobserver from Ankara on Tuesday.
Unal declined to comment on details of any future sanctions, adding
that the main issue at stake is freedom of speech and expression.
Anyone caught denying the Armenia genocide, or the Nazi Holocaust,
can face up to one year in prison and a ~@45,000 fine.
The vast majority of France's lower-house voted in the draft law
last month. The December vote also prompted a stern response from
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who retorted that France
itself committed genocide in Algeria when it wiped out 15 percent of
its population.
Erdogan also claimed the bill is a stunt by Sarkozy to garner support
in the upcoming presidential elections from the 500,000 or so ethnic
Armenians residing in France.
Ankara has since cancelled all economic, political and military
meetings with Paris, reports Reuters. Its ambassador has also left.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu cancelled a planned trip
to Brussels on Monday. He had been scheduled to meet with EU foreign
ministers over the Iranian oil embargo before heading off to Tehran.
Meanwhile, Turkey's state-run broadcaster said it plans to suspend its
15.5 percent partnership with Lyon-based Euronews if Sarkozy approves
the bill, Bloomberg news reports. Other French business interests
in Turkey are also under pressure, including car maker Renault and
French bank BNP Paribas. Both have assets worth over ~@20 billion in
the country.
"There will be more sanctions and this time, the sanctions will be
permanent, until the change in French position," Turkish foreign
minister Ahmet Davutoglu said over the weekend.
Press reports indicate that around 15,000 Turks from around Europe
staged a peaceful protest against the law in Paris on Saturday.
Ankara vehemently denies the genocide charge and claims the new law
is both an affront to freedom of speech and an insult to Turkey.
"Politicisation of the understanding of justice and history through
other people's past and damaging freedom of expression in a tactless
manner are first and foremost a loss for France," Turkish authorities
said in a statement released Monday.
By Nikolaj Nielsen
EU Observer
http://euobserver.com/9/114997
Jan 24 2012
Belgium
BRUSSELS - French senators on Monday (23 January) voted in a bill to
outlaw denial of the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks in 1915, prompting strong threats of economic retaliation
from Ankara.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is widely expected to ratify the new measure
in February in a move that Turkey said it would punish with "permanent
sanctions if it is passed to law."
"This is totally unfair ... The historical interpretation of events
cannot be judged by French legislation. No parliament has such a
right nor such a competence," Turkey's spokesperson for foreign
affairs Selcuk Unal told EUobserver from Ankara on Tuesday.
Unal declined to comment on details of any future sanctions, adding
that the main issue at stake is freedom of speech and expression.
Anyone caught denying the Armenia genocide, or the Nazi Holocaust,
can face up to one year in prison and a ~@45,000 fine.
The vast majority of France's lower-house voted in the draft law
last month. The December vote also prompted a stern response from
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who retorted that France
itself committed genocide in Algeria when it wiped out 15 percent of
its population.
Erdogan also claimed the bill is a stunt by Sarkozy to garner support
in the upcoming presidential elections from the 500,000 or so ethnic
Armenians residing in France.
Ankara has since cancelled all economic, political and military
meetings with Paris, reports Reuters. Its ambassador has also left.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu cancelled a planned trip
to Brussels on Monday. He had been scheduled to meet with EU foreign
ministers over the Iranian oil embargo before heading off to Tehran.
Meanwhile, Turkey's state-run broadcaster said it plans to suspend its
15.5 percent partnership with Lyon-based Euronews if Sarkozy approves
the bill, Bloomberg news reports. Other French business interests
in Turkey are also under pressure, including car maker Renault and
French bank BNP Paribas. Both have assets worth over ~@20 billion in
the country.
"There will be more sanctions and this time, the sanctions will be
permanent, until the change in French position," Turkish foreign
minister Ahmet Davutoglu said over the weekend.
Press reports indicate that around 15,000 Turks from around Europe
staged a peaceful protest against the law in Paris on Saturday.
Ankara vehemently denies the genocide charge and claims the new law
is both an affront to freedom of speech and an insult to Turkey.
"Politicisation of the understanding of justice and history through
other people's past and damaging freedom of expression in a tactless
manner are first and foremost a loss for France," Turkish authorities
said in a statement released Monday.