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GENOCIDE TIT-FOR-TAT: TURKEY SAYS FRANCE SLAUGHTERED ALGERIANS
Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/genocide-france-bill-turkey-527/
Dec 23 2011
Turkey has hit back at France, accusing it of committing genocide
against Algerians, after French lawmakers passed a bill which makes the
denial of the Armenian "holocaust" a crime. The Turkish PM described
the bill as racist and anti-Muslim.
Turkey has gone far beyond conventional diplomatic and economic
gestures in reacting to the move, insisting French actions during
its colonial rule over Algeria and during the Algerian War amounted
to genocide.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that "around 15
percent of the population of Algeria was massacred by the French,
starting in 1945." He added that Algerians were "mercilessly martyred"
and "burned en masse in ovens" by the French.
Erdogan believes that French President Nicholas Sarkozy is trying to
raise more support ahead of elections by "promoting animosity against
Turks and Muslims," as France has a large expatriate community of
Armenians who are expected to welcome the new bill, should it be
passed by the Senate.
Erdogan's statement came on Friday, a day after the French lower house
passed a bill that made it a crime to deny that the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide. It will only
become law if approved by the Senate, which blocked the law last time
an attempt was made to introduce it.
On Thursday, Turkey suspended all political and economic ties with
France, including military cooperation, and ordered its ambassador to
return to Ankara for "consultations." The country fiercely denies it
took part in a genocide of Armenians during World War I, even though
most historians agree that it did.
Meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian thanked France
for its support in voting through the bill.
"By passing a bill criminalizing the denial of the genocide, France
has once again proven its commitment to general human values,"
Nalbandian said, as cited by Interfax.
Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/genocide-france-bill-turkey-527/
Dec 23 2011
Turkey has hit back at France, accusing it of committing genocide
against Algerians, after French lawmakers passed a bill which makes the
denial of the Armenian "holocaust" a crime. The Turkish PM described
the bill as racist and anti-Muslim.
Turkey has gone far beyond conventional diplomatic and economic
gestures in reacting to the move, insisting French actions during
its colonial rule over Algeria and during the Algerian War amounted
to genocide.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that "around 15
percent of the population of Algeria was massacred by the French,
starting in 1945." He added that Algerians were "mercilessly martyred"
and "burned en masse in ovens" by the French.
Erdogan believes that French President Nicholas Sarkozy is trying to
raise more support ahead of elections by "promoting animosity against
Turks and Muslims," as France has a large expatriate community of
Armenians who are expected to welcome the new bill, should it be
passed by the Senate.
Erdogan's statement came on Friday, a day after the French lower house
passed a bill that made it a crime to deny that the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide. It will only
become law if approved by the Senate, which blocked the law last time
an attempt was made to introduce it.
On Thursday, Turkey suspended all political and economic ties with
France, including military cooperation, and ordered its ambassador to
return to Ankara for "consultations." The country fiercely denies it
took part in a genocide of Armenians during World War I, even though
most historians agree that it did.
Meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian thanked France
for its support in voting through the bill.
"By passing a bill criminalizing the denial of the genocide, France
has once again proven its commitment to general human values,"
Nalbandian said, as cited by Interfax.