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FRANCE APPROVES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL AND ANGERS TURKEY
International Business Times
Jan 24 2012
UK
The French Senate has voted for a bill that will criminalise deniers
of the 20th century Armenian genocide, setting France on a collision
course with the Turkish government.
Ankara threatened to impose "permanent" sanctions against France if
the law were passed. Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told
France 24 news agency that the proposed law was an affront to freedom
of expression.
"If I am asked a question by a journalist, how could I remain silent?"
he asked. "This bill would punish me for having an opinion on an
historical event. It goes against all European and French values of
freedom of expression."
According to the bill, those who publicly reject the claim that the
mass killing of Armenians by Turkish troops early last century was
genocide can be punished by up to a year in prison and a ~@45,000
(£38,000) fine.
Senators from the ruling conservative UMP party and the opposition
Socialists voted in favour of the bill. About 60 senators of the
348-member Senate were present during the vote.
The Minister of Relations with Parliament, Patrick Ollier, told the
Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News: "Denial of Jewish genocide is
penalised. [What we are doing here is to] make this possible for the
Armenian genocide as well."
About 30,000 Turks marched in Paris to protest against the
legislation. "We can say that #France committed genocide in algeria
between 1954-1962 by killing between 300,000 to more than one million
ppl. #Turkey," tweeted a Turkish user.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan froze political and
military relations with France in December, claiming President
Sarkozy's governing party was using the bill to bolster support before
presidential elections due in May. Turkey has threatened economic
and political reprisals should the law pass
Erdogan pledged never to visit France again if the bill were approved.
Armenians say 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed from 1915
to 1923 in a campaign of genocide in Anatolia. Turkey maintains the
deaths were part of clashes in which tens of thousands of Turks and
Armenians died after Armenian groups sided with a Russian army.
International Business Times
Jan 24 2012
UK
The French Senate has voted for a bill that will criminalise deniers
of the 20th century Armenian genocide, setting France on a collision
course with the Turkish government.
Ankara threatened to impose "permanent" sanctions against France if
the law were passed. Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told
France 24 news agency that the proposed law was an affront to freedom
of expression.
"If I am asked a question by a journalist, how could I remain silent?"
he asked. "This bill would punish me for having an opinion on an
historical event. It goes against all European and French values of
freedom of expression."
According to the bill, those who publicly reject the claim that the
mass killing of Armenians by Turkish troops early last century was
genocide can be punished by up to a year in prison and a ~@45,000
(£38,000) fine.
Senators from the ruling conservative UMP party and the opposition
Socialists voted in favour of the bill. About 60 senators of the
348-member Senate were present during the vote.
The Minister of Relations with Parliament, Patrick Ollier, told the
Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News: "Denial of Jewish genocide is
penalised. [What we are doing here is to] make this possible for the
Armenian genocide as well."
About 30,000 Turks marched in Paris to protest against the
legislation. "We can say that #France committed genocide in algeria
between 1954-1962 by killing between 300,000 to more than one million
ppl. #Turkey," tweeted a Turkish user.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan froze political and
military relations with France in December, claiming President
Sarkozy's governing party was using the bill to bolster support before
presidential elections due in May. Turkey has threatened economic
and political reprisals should the law pass
Erdogan pledged never to visit France again if the bill were approved.
Armenians say 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed from 1915
to 1923 in a campaign of genocide in Anatolia. Turkey maintains the
deaths were part of clashes in which tens of thousands of Turks and
Armenians died after Armenian groups sided with a Russian army.