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FRENCH SENATE EYES GENOCIDE BILL - TURKEY THREATENS MORE SANCTIONS
Kuwait Times
http://new.kuwaittimes.net/2012/01/23/french-senate-eyes-genocide-bill-turkey-threatens-more-sanctions/
Jan 23 2012
Kuwait
PARIS: Turkey threatened more sanctions for France if the Senate in
Paris votes later yesterday to make it a crime to deny the 20th-century
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks constitutes a genocide. France's
lower house voted to make such denials a crime last month, prompting
Turkey to suspended military, economic and political ties. If the bill
passes the Senate, it will be on a fast track to becoming law. If it
fails, the National Assembly, France's lower house, could take it up
again, starting the process over.
As the debate before the vote got under way, rival demonstrations -
one pro-Turkish and one pro-Armenian, kept apart by a large police
presence - gathered outside the upper house of parliament, waving
flags and blowing whistles. On Saturday, thousands of Turks from across
Europe marched through the French capital, accusing French President
Nicolas Sarkozy of acting in the hope of securing French Armenians'
votes in this year's presidential elections.
An estimated 500,000 Armenians live in France. While most historians
contend that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians as the Ottoman
Empire broke up was the 20th century's first genocide, Turkey has
vigorously denied that. It says that there was no systematic campaign
to kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic
disintegration of the empire.
Yesterday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, speaking during
a visit to Strasbourg, France, said: "What would happen if a thousand,
ten thousand or a hundred thousand gathered around Eiffel and said
'there is no genocide'? What would the French justice do? Would
it be able to convict ten thousand or a hundred thousand people? I
don't think so." But the most significant protest came from Ankara,
Turkey's capital, where the foreign minister warned that he was ready
to take new measures against France if the bill passed.
"Turkey will continue to implement sanctions as long as this bill
remains in motion," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told
reporters ahead of the debate. "We hope however, that this won't be
necessary and that common sense will reign in the French Senate." He
did not spell out the measures Turkey would take.
The bill sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine
of ?45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or "outrageously minimize"
the killings - putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust.
France formally recognized the 1915 killings as genocide in 2001,
but provided no penalty for anyone rejecting that. The bill strikes at
the heart of national honor in Turkey, which has argued that the bill
would compromise freedom of expression in France. "European values are
under threat," Davutoglu said yesterday. "If each parliament takes
decisions containing its own views of history and implements them,
a new era of Inquisition will be opened in Europe." "Those who voice
views that exclude this view of history will be jailed," he said. "It
would unfortunately, be a great shame for France to revive this." -AP
Kuwait Times
http://new.kuwaittimes.net/2012/01/23/french-senate-eyes-genocide-bill-turkey-threatens-more-sanctions/
Jan 23 2012
Kuwait
PARIS: Turkey threatened more sanctions for France if the Senate in
Paris votes later yesterday to make it a crime to deny the 20th-century
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks constitutes a genocide. France's
lower house voted to make such denials a crime last month, prompting
Turkey to suspended military, economic and political ties. If the bill
passes the Senate, it will be on a fast track to becoming law. If it
fails, the National Assembly, France's lower house, could take it up
again, starting the process over.
As the debate before the vote got under way, rival demonstrations -
one pro-Turkish and one pro-Armenian, kept apart by a large police
presence - gathered outside the upper house of parliament, waving
flags and blowing whistles. On Saturday, thousands of Turks from across
Europe marched through the French capital, accusing French President
Nicolas Sarkozy of acting in the hope of securing French Armenians'
votes in this year's presidential elections.
An estimated 500,000 Armenians live in France. While most historians
contend that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians as the Ottoman
Empire broke up was the 20th century's first genocide, Turkey has
vigorously denied that. It says that there was no systematic campaign
to kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic
disintegration of the empire.
Yesterday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, speaking during
a visit to Strasbourg, France, said: "What would happen if a thousand,
ten thousand or a hundred thousand gathered around Eiffel and said
'there is no genocide'? What would the French justice do? Would
it be able to convict ten thousand or a hundred thousand people? I
don't think so." But the most significant protest came from Ankara,
Turkey's capital, where the foreign minister warned that he was ready
to take new measures against France if the bill passed.
"Turkey will continue to implement sanctions as long as this bill
remains in motion," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told
reporters ahead of the debate. "We hope however, that this won't be
necessary and that common sense will reign in the French Senate." He
did not spell out the measures Turkey would take.
The bill sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine
of ?45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or "outrageously minimize"
the killings - putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust.
France formally recognized the 1915 killings as genocide in 2001,
but provided no penalty for anyone rejecting that. The bill strikes at
the heart of national honor in Turkey, which has argued that the bill
would compromise freedom of expression in France. "European values are
under threat," Davutoglu said yesterday. "If each parliament takes
decisions containing its own views of history and implements them,
a new era of Inquisition will be opened in Europe." "Those who voice
views that exclude this view of history will be jailed," he said. "It
would unfortunately, be a great shame for France to revive this." -AP