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CCAF HEAD: TURKISH THREATS AGAINST FRANCE INADMISSIBLE
PanARMENIAN.Net
August 31, 2012 - 13:48 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bağış' response to
France's decision to include a chapter about the Armenian Genocide
in secondary school textbooks proves Turkish government's intention
to continue denial policy, head of Co-ordination Council of Armenian
Organizations of France (CCAF) said.
As Mourad Papazian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Turkey will
run counter to France at international level, if President Francois
Hollande signs the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.
"Turkish threats against France are unacceptable. We take steps that
will counter mean tricks to deny the Genocide. We launch campaigns to
unmask Turkey, which perpetrated the arrest of hundreds of journalists,
lawyers, trade unionists and students. Truth will win in the end,"
Mr. Papazian said.
Official Ankara has voiced a "strong protest" against France's decision
to include a chapter about the Armenian Genocide in secondary school
textbooks.
Turkey's EU Minister and chief negotiator Egemen Bağış has urged Paris
"against testing bilateral relations once again".
"I call on the French authorities to intensify efforts in resolving
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the framework of OSCE Minsk Group
rather than distort the historical facts," he said.
He also urged the French authorities to "face own history rather than
check-up fictitious facts."
According to earlier Turkish media reports, the French Education
Ministry has decided to include chapters about the Genocide in history
and geography textbooks by order of President Hollande.
On January 23, 2012, the French Senate passed the bill making it a
crime to deny the Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing a
45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies
this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.
Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that the bill as
anti-constitutional. In a statement the Council said the document
represented an "unconstitutional breach of the practice of freedom
of expression and communication."
After election, President Holande pledged to introduce a similar bill
that would go in line with the country's constitution.
Turkish Education Ministry officials said they will first need to
examine the book and see if it "includes phrases that incriminate
Turkey and they will respond in line with international law through
diplomatic channels."
PanARMENIAN.Net
August 31, 2012 - 13:48 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bağış' response to
France's decision to include a chapter about the Armenian Genocide
in secondary school textbooks proves Turkish government's intention
to continue denial policy, head of Co-ordination Council of Armenian
Organizations of France (CCAF) said.
As Mourad Papazian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Turkey will
run counter to France at international level, if President Francois
Hollande signs the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.
"Turkish threats against France are unacceptable. We take steps that
will counter mean tricks to deny the Genocide. We launch campaigns to
unmask Turkey, which perpetrated the arrest of hundreds of journalists,
lawyers, trade unionists and students. Truth will win in the end,"
Mr. Papazian said.
Official Ankara has voiced a "strong protest" against France's decision
to include a chapter about the Armenian Genocide in secondary school
textbooks.
Turkey's EU Minister and chief negotiator Egemen Bağış has urged Paris
"against testing bilateral relations once again".
"I call on the French authorities to intensify efforts in resolving
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the framework of OSCE Minsk Group
rather than distort the historical facts," he said.
He also urged the French authorities to "face own history rather than
check-up fictitious facts."
According to earlier Turkish media reports, the French Education
Ministry has decided to include chapters about the Genocide in history
and geography textbooks by order of President Hollande.
On January 23, 2012, the French Senate passed the bill making it a
crime to deny the Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing a
45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies
this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.
Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that the bill as
anti-constitutional. In a statement the Council said the document
represented an "unconstitutional breach of the practice of freedom
of expression and communication."
After election, President Holande pledged to introduce a similar bill
that would go in line with the country's constitution.
Turkish Education Ministry officials said they will first need to
examine the book and see if it "includes phrases that incriminate
Turkey and they will respond in line with international law through
diplomatic channels."