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GENOCIDE BILL ANGERS TURKS AS IT PASSES IN FRANCE
By SCOTT SAYARE and SEBNEM ARSU
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/world/europe/french-senate-passes-genocide-bill-angering-turks.html
Jan 24 2012
PARIS - Relations between France and Turkey dipped to a nadir as the
French Senate approved a bill late Monday criminalizing the denial
of officially recognized genocides, including the Armenian genocide
begun in 1915.
Turkey's prime minister, anticipating the bill's passage, called
the move "incomprehensible" and pledged to "take steps." Turkey has
already suspended military cooperation, bilateral political agreement
and economic contracts with France over the bill, and on Monday raised
the possibility of withdrawing support for Euronews, an international
news network based in France, in which Turkey's national radio and
television network holds a 15.5 percent stake.
After lengthy debate, the Senate voted 127 to 86 in favor of the
legislation, while hundreds of Turks and Armenians demonstrated
outside. If signed into law by President Nicolas Sarkozy, the
legislation would call for up to one year in prison and a fine of
about $58,000 for those who deny an officially recognized genocide.
The bill does not make specific reference to the estimated 1.5
million Armenians slaughtered under the Ottoman Turks, but France
recognizes only those deaths and the Holocaust as genocides and
already specifically bans Holocaust denial.
In Turkey, the public affirmation of the Armenian genocide is treated
as a crime, on the premise that it is an insult to Turkish identity.
In March, the writer Orhan Pamuk was fined about $3,670 by a Turkish
court for his statement in a Swiss newspaper that Turkey had killed
"30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians."
Turkey contends that Armenians were not the victims of systematic
killings and argues that no more than 500,000 Armenians died, noting
that many Turks also perished during those years of war. Thousands
of Turks protested the bill in a demonstration in Paris on Saturday.
Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, warned of "permanent
sanctions" if the bill passed, calling it a "black stain" on France.
On Monday he told reporters in the Turkish capital, Ankara, "If each
parliament takes decisions containing its own views of history and
implements them, a new era of Inquisition will be opened in Europe."
While the legislation was widely backed by lawmakers from Mr.
Sarkozy's party as well as the opposition, a number of French
politicians charged that the government ought not seek to dictate
history. Some members of the opposition have also accused Mr.
Sarkozy's party of pandering to a sizable Armenian population ahead
of the presidential election this spring.
About 500,000 French citizens claim Armenian descent, the largest
such population in Europe; many have applauded the legislation. But
those who claim Turkish descent number 400,000, and many have been
up in arms.
The bill, brought by a lawmaker from Mr. Sarkozy's party, has placed
the government in a delicate position at a moment when France hopes
to maintain Turkish cooperation on pressing matters, including the
crackdown in Syria and Iran's nuclear program, and to keep open
relations as allies within NATO. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and
Bruno Lemaire, the agriculture minister, opposed the legislation.
In a letter to Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Sarkozy noted the legislation does
not name the Armenian genocide and hoped for "reason and dialogue"
with Turkey.
While Turkey has drawn Western praise as a model of Muslim democracy,
particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring, Turkish human rights
advocates worry that the government has increasingly sought to repress
freedom of speech and the press, jailing dozens of journalists,
publishers and distributers, and buying and selling media properties.
Armenian advocacy groups around the globe push regularly for official
recognition of the genocide. Nineteen nations, including France,
have granted that recognition, as has the European Union. Slovenia
and Switzerland treat denial of the genocide as a crime.
Scott Sayare reported from Paris, and Sebnem Arsu from Marseille,
France.
By SCOTT SAYARE and SEBNEM ARSU
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/world/europe/french-senate-passes-genocide-bill-angering-turks.html
Jan 24 2012
PARIS - Relations between France and Turkey dipped to a nadir as the
French Senate approved a bill late Monday criminalizing the denial
of officially recognized genocides, including the Armenian genocide
begun in 1915.
Turkey's prime minister, anticipating the bill's passage, called
the move "incomprehensible" and pledged to "take steps." Turkey has
already suspended military cooperation, bilateral political agreement
and economic contracts with France over the bill, and on Monday raised
the possibility of withdrawing support for Euronews, an international
news network based in France, in which Turkey's national radio and
television network holds a 15.5 percent stake.
After lengthy debate, the Senate voted 127 to 86 in favor of the
legislation, while hundreds of Turks and Armenians demonstrated
outside. If signed into law by President Nicolas Sarkozy, the
legislation would call for up to one year in prison and a fine of
about $58,000 for those who deny an officially recognized genocide.
The bill does not make specific reference to the estimated 1.5
million Armenians slaughtered under the Ottoman Turks, but France
recognizes only those deaths and the Holocaust as genocides and
already specifically bans Holocaust denial.
In Turkey, the public affirmation of the Armenian genocide is treated
as a crime, on the premise that it is an insult to Turkish identity.
In March, the writer Orhan Pamuk was fined about $3,670 by a Turkish
court for his statement in a Swiss newspaper that Turkey had killed
"30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians."
Turkey contends that Armenians were not the victims of systematic
killings and argues that no more than 500,000 Armenians died, noting
that many Turks also perished during those years of war. Thousands
of Turks protested the bill in a demonstration in Paris on Saturday.
Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, warned of "permanent
sanctions" if the bill passed, calling it a "black stain" on France.
On Monday he told reporters in the Turkish capital, Ankara, "If each
parliament takes decisions containing its own views of history and
implements them, a new era of Inquisition will be opened in Europe."
While the legislation was widely backed by lawmakers from Mr.
Sarkozy's party as well as the opposition, a number of French
politicians charged that the government ought not seek to dictate
history. Some members of the opposition have also accused Mr.
Sarkozy's party of pandering to a sizable Armenian population ahead
of the presidential election this spring.
About 500,000 French citizens claim Armenian descent, the largest
such population in Europe; many have applauded the legislation. But
those who claim Turkish descent number 400,000, and many have been
up in arms.
The bill, brought by a lawmaker from Mr. Sarkozy's party, has placed
the government in a delicate position at a moment when France hopes
to maintain Turkish cooperation on pressing matters, including the
crackdown in Syria and Iran's nuclear program, and to keep open
relations as allies within NATO. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and
Bruno Lemaire, the agriculture minister, opposed the legislation.
In a letter to Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Sarkozy noted the legislation does
not name the Armenian genocide and hoped for "reason and dialogue"
with Turkey.
While Turkey has drawn Western praise as a model of Muslim democracy,
particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring, Turkish human rights
advocates worry that the government has increasingly sought to repress
freedom of speech and the press, jailing dozens of journalists,
publishers and distributers, and buying and selling media properties.
Armenian advocacy groups around the globe push regularly for official
recognition of the genocide. Nineteen nations, including France,
have granted that recognition, as has the European Union. Slovenia
and Switzerland treat denial of the genocide as a crime.
Scott Sayare reported from Paris, and Sebnem Arsu from Marseille,
France.