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SARKOZY TO RE-DRAFT GENOCIDE BILL IF REJECTED: MINISTERS
Cumhuriyet
Feb 1 2012
Turkey
President Nicolas Sarkozy will immediately submit a new draft of a
law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide if France's top judicial
body rejects it, two ministers told AFP Wednesday.
PARIS- "The president told us in cabinet that he would immediately
submit a new draft if there is a rejection by the Constitutional
Council" of a bill approved recently by the French parliament, said
one of the ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another minister said Sarkozy had also criticised those in cabinet
who had opposed the bill, saying they "did not see past the ends of
their noses". He said a rejection of the bill by the Constitutional
Council could open the door to questioning a law that penalises denial
of the Holocaust.
After being approved by the National Assembly and Senate, the law
was put on hold Tuesday after politicians opposed to the legislation
demanded that its constitutionality be examined.
Two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation
-- from both the Senate and the lower house -- said they had formally
requested the Constitutional Council examine the law.
The groups said they each had gathered more than the minimum
60 signatures required to ask the council to test the law's
constitutionality.
The council is obliged to deliver its judgement within a month,
but this can be reduced to eight days if the government deems the
matter urgent.
Turkey reacted furiously last week when the Senate approved the law,
which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915
massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide.
Ankara has already halted political and military cooperation with
France and was threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if
the law took effect.
Despite government backing of the law, at least two ministers,
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire,
had spoken out against the bill.
Cumhuriyet
Feb 1 2012
Turkey
President Nicolas Sarkozy will immediately submit a new draft of a
law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide if France's top judicial
body rejects it, two ministers told AFP Wednesday.
PARIS- "The president told us in cabinet that he would immediately
submit a new draft if there is a rejection by the Constitutional
Council" of a bill approved recently by the French parliament, said
one of the ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another minister said Sarkozy had also criticised those in cabinet
who had opposed the bill, saying they "did not see past the ends of
their noses". He said a rejection of the bill by the Constitutional
Council could open the door to questioning a law that penalises denial
of the Holocaust.
After being approved by the National Assembly and Senate, the law
was put on hold Tuesday after politicians opposed to the legislation
demanded that its constitutionality be examined.
Two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation
-- from both the Senate and the lower house -- said they had formally
requested the Constitutional Council examine the law.
The groups said they each had gathered more than the minimum
60 signatures required to ask the council to test the law's
constitutionality.
The council is obliged to deliver its judgement within a month,
but this can be reduced to eight days if the government deems the
matter urgent.
Turkey reacted furiously last week when the Senate approved the law,
which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915
massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide.
Ankara has already halted political and military cooperation with
France and was threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if
the law took effect.
Despite government backing of the law, at least two ministers,
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire,
had spoken out against the bill.