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SIXTY SIGNATURES WANTED BEFORE SARKOZY'S APPROVAL
by Serkan Demirtas
Hurriyet Daily News
Jan 25 2012
Turkey
As a matter of fact, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had to be in
Brussels Jan. 23 to attend a European Union ministers meeting in
which the oil ban on Iran was set to be discussed. That would be
an occasion for him to meet with his French counterpart Alain Juppe
before the crucial vote at the Senate over the bill that penalizes
the denial of the Armenian genocide.
He preferred to stay in Ankara and to observe the voting at a meeting
with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some other high-ranking
government officials. The idea was to be ready to swiftly announce
Turkey's counter-actions against France and to display the Turkish
government will not swallow the oddity introduced by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy. Erdogan and Davutoglu were later joined by Finance
Minister Mehmet Å~^imÅ~_ek and Transportation Minister Binali
Yıldırım as well as deputy leader of the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) Omer Celik.
Contrary to expectations, Erdogan did not unveil sanctions against
France and seemed to distinguish Sarkozy as solely responsible for the
move. Furthermore, his statements at his party's parliamentary group
were reflecting a common sense with expectation that the Constitutional
Court will annul the bill if 60 senators or lawmakers would be able
to apply to the high court.
"We did not want to curl senators' toes. That's why we have decided to
postpone declaring our action plan," a senior Foreign Ministry official
said yesterday. Immediately after the vote, Turkey's ambassador
to Paris Tahsin Burcuoglu and other Turkish envoys based in Paris
(permanent representatives for UNESCO and OECD) kept a tight rein on
senators who voted against the bill. The encouraging development was
the fact that 86 senators opposed the bill, 26 more than needed to
take the bill to the high court.
"In addition," a senior government official said, "the debate at the
Senate was very intensive and we have seen that this very absurd law
drew reactions from intellectuals, media and a number of senators. We
have to use this atmosphere and not ruin it by announcing the action
plan."
The government, toning down its criticisms, is now awaiting a response
from Paris if France is also keen in not worsening bilateral ties with
Turkey. The worst scenario will be realized if Sarkozy immediately
approves the law before the opponents could garner 60 votes. Apart
from further tarnishing his "persona non grata" image in Turkey,
with this move Sarkozy would no doubt bring bilateral ties to an
irreversible point. That will obviously push Turkey to announce its
sanctions against France in retaliation.
"What can we do next? Why not gather 100,000 Turks in downtown Paris
with placards denying the Armenian genocide?" asked the senior
official. "We wonder how the French judiciary will deal with the
backlog of cases."
From: Baghdasarian
by Serkan Demirtas
Hurriyet Daily News
Jan 25 2012
Turkey
As a matter of fact, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had to be in
Brussels Jan. 23 to attend a European Union ministers meeting in
which the oil ban on Iran was set to be discussed. That would be
an occasion for him to meet with his French counterpart Alain Juppe
before the crucial vote at the Senate over the bill that penalizes
the denial of the Armenian genocide.
He preferred to stay in Ankara and to observe the voting at a meeting
with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and some other high-ranking
government officials. The idea was to be ready to swiftly announce
Turkey's counter-actions against France and to display the Turkish
government will not swallow the oddity introduced by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy. Erdogan and Davutoglu were later joined by Finance
Minister Mehmet Å~^imÅ~_ek and Transportation Minister Binali
Yıldırım as well as deputy leader of the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) Omer Celik.
Contrary to expectations, Erdogan did not unveil sanctions against
France and seemed to distinguish Sarkozy as solely responsible for the
move. Furthermore, his statements at his party's parliamentary group
were reflecting a common sense with expectation that the Constitutional
Court will annul the bill if 60 senators or lawmakers would be able
to apply to the high court.
"We did not want to curl senators' toes. That's why we have decided to
postpone declaring our action plan," a senior Foreign Ministry official
said yesterday. Immediately after the vote, Turkey's ambassador
to Paris Tahsin Burcuoglu and other Turkish envoys based in Paris
(permanent representatives for UNESCO and OECD) kept a tight rein on
senators who voted against the bill. The encouraging development was
the fact that 86 senators opposed the bill, 26 more than needed to
take the bill to the high court.
"In addition," a senior government official said, "the debate at the
Senate was very intensive and we have seen that this very absurd law
drew reactions from intellectuals, media and a number of senators. We
have to use this atmosphere and not ruin it by announcing the action
plan."
The government, toning down its criticisms, is now awaiting a response
from Paris if France is also keen in not worsening bilateral ties with
Turkey. The worst scenario will be realized if Sarkozy immediately
approves the law before the opponents could garner 60 votes. Apart
from further tarnishing his "persona non grata" image in Turkey,
with this move Sarkozy would no doubt bring bilateral ties to an
irreversible point. That will obviously push Turkey to announce its
sanctions against France in retaliation.
"What can we do next? Why not gather 100,000 Turks in downtown Paris
with placards denying the Armenian genocide?" asked the senior
official. "We wonder how the French judiciary will deal with the
backlog of cases."
From: Baghdasarian