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EUROPEAN LIBERALS, DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE FRENCH GENOCIDE LAW
Today's Zaman
Jan 25 2012
Turkey
European liberals and democrats have slammed a French law that
makes it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks nearly a century ago constituted genocide, saying the move was
"incomprehensible."
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff from Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP)
said in a statement that the genocide-denial bill is an additional
burden on already strained Turkish-European relations, adding
that apart from a few, narrowly defined and politically justified
exceptions, assertions of historical facts should be left to historians
and should certainly not be made a crime.
The French Parliament approved the bill late Monday, risking more
sanctions from Turkey and complicating an already delicate relationship
with the rising power. Officials in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's
government insisted the vote didn't directly target Turkey.
Sarkozy -- who personally supported the bill -- plans to sign the
measure into law within the required 15-day period after the bill's
passage on Monday, an official in the presidential Elysee Palace told
The Associated Press. Saber-rattling on Tuesday by Turkey, which has
not announced any sanctions against France as of yet, is interpreted
in Paris as a wish by Turkish leaders to buy time.
Turkey, which sees the allegations of genocide as a threat to its
national honor, has already suspended military, economic and political
ties with Paris, and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when
the lower house of French Parliament approved the same bill. For
some in France, the bill is part of a tradition of legislation in
some European countries, born of the agonies of the Holocaust, that
criminalizes the denial of genocide. Denying the Holocaust is already
a punishable crime in France.
Turkey asserts there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians
and that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of
the empire. It also claims that the death toll is inflated. Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the bill was a result of a
"racist and discriminatory" attitude toward Turkey.
Lambsdorff said the vote in the Senate is all the more incomprehensible
because the alleged Turkish genocide of Armenians in 1915 is an event
in which France was not involved in any way. However, he called on
Turkey to show restraint, saying: "There is a risk that Turkey might
over-react but for a country in the middle of accession negotiations
with the EU it is important to react with moderation and avoid adding
to anti-Turkish sentiment. The lines must be kept open between Ankara
and Paris as this would inevitably impact wider Turkish-European
relations."
Andrew Duff from the UK's Liberal Democrats said the French Parliament
is wrong to play the role of a court. "The definition of genocide is
properly a judicial matter and should not be reduced to the banality
of party politics," said Duff, who is also the member of EU-Turkey
Joint Parliamentary Committee.
Today's Zaman
Jan 25 2012
Turkey
European liberals and democrats have slammed a French law that
makes it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks nearly a century ago constituted genocide, saying the move was
"incomprehensible."
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff from Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP)
said in a statement that the genocide-denial bill is an additional
burden on already strained Turkish-European relations, adding
that apart from a few, narrowly defined and politically justified
exceptions, assertions of historical facts should be left to historians
and should certainly not be made a crime.
The French Parliament approved the bill late Monday, risking more
sanctions from Turkey and complicating an already delicate relationship
with the rising power. Officials in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's
government insisted the vote didn't directly target Turkey.
Sarkozy -- who personally supported the bill -- plans to sign the
measure into law within the required 15-day period after the bill's
passage on Monday, an official in the presidential Elysee Palace told
The Associated Press. Saber-rattling on Tuesday by Turkey, which has
not announced any sanctions against France as of yet, is interpreted
in Paris as a wish by Turkish leaders to buy time.
Turkey, which sees the allegations of genocide as a threat to its
national honor, has already suspended military, economic and political
ties with Paris, and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when
the lower house of French Parliament approved the same bill. For
some in France, the bill is part of a tradition of legislation in
some European countries, born of the agonies of the Holocaust, that
criminalizes the denial of genocide. Denying the Holocaust is already
a punishable crime in France.
Turkey asserts there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians
and that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of
the empire. It also claims that the death toll is inflated. Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the bill was a result of a
"racist and discriminatory" attitude toward Turkey.
Lambsdorff said the vote in the Senate is all the more incomprehensible
because the alleged Turkish genocide of Armenians in 1915 is an event
in which France was not involved in any way. However, he called on
Turkey to show restraint, saying: "There is a risk that Turkey might
over-react but for a country in the middle of accession negotiations
with the EU it is important to react with moderation and avoid adding
to anti-Turkish sentiment. The lines must be kept open between Ankara
and Paris as this would inevitably impact wider Turkish-European
relations."
Andrew Duff from the UK's Liberal Democrats said the French Parliament
is wrong to play the role of a court. "The definition of genocide is
properly a judicial matter and should not be reduced to the banality
of party politics," said Duff, who is also the member of EU-Turkey
Joint Parliamentary Committee.