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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 9 2014
Ankara `was on brink of severing Paris ties,' Turkish envoy says
PARIS ` Anadolu Agency
Ankara was on the brink of downgrading ties with Paris if a bill
criminalizing denial of genocide was approved by the French
Constitutional Court, Turkish Ambassador to France Tahsin BurcuoÄ?lu
revealed Feb. 8.
`As I leave France I will never forget the struggle that we put up
together. I thank everyone who took part in this struggle. Our ties
with France were almost cut in the beginnings of 2012,' BurcuoÄ?lu said
in a farewell speech in Paris, in reference to the bill which launched
a diplomatic push in Ankara.
`I even keep a diplomatic note in the drawer of my table as a
souvenir. If the French Constitutional Court hadn't overturned the
bill we would have given that note which said that our ties would have
been decreased to the chargé d'affaires level,' TahsinoÄ?lu said,
revealing for the first time the response that Ankara had decided on.
The first article of the bill passed in the French Parliament and
Senate in 2012 provided for two years of imprisonment or a fine of
45,000 euros for denial of genocides, including the large-scale
massacre of Armenians in 1915. However, the French Constitutional
Court ruled that the bill was anti-constitutional, citing its
contradiction to the freedom of speech.
`In the end, we naturally did not give the diplomatic note. But I will
bring it with me as a souvenir. I may even frame it and hang it [on
the wall],' BurcuoÄ?lu said, adding that the top court's ruling had
been a significant diplomatic success.
`Thanks to you and thanks to our state's erect posture, we have got
through it without a stain. We [worked a miracle],' he said.
BurcuoÄ?lu also conveyed the appraisal message from the French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius.
`Fabius said `you should be proud of what you have achieved.' I
replied that, as a Turk, we never give away our modesty,' he said.
BurcuoÄ?lu had served as Turkey's second civilian head of the National
Security Council before being appointed to Paris.
February/09/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-was-on-brink-of-severing-paris-ties-turkish-envoy-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=62227&NewsCatID=338
Feb 9 2014
Ankara `was on brink of severing Paris ties,' Turkish envoy says
PARIS ` Anadolu Agency
Ankara was on the brink of downgrading ties with Paris if a bill
criminalizing denial of genocide was approved by the French
Constitutional Court, Turkish Ambassador to France Tahsin BurcuoÄ?lu
revealed Feb. 8.
`As I leave France I will never forget the struggle that we put up
together. I thank everyone who took part in this struggle. Our ties
with France were almost cut in the beginnings of 2012,' BurcuoÄ?lu said
in a farewell speech in Paris, in reference to the bill which launched
a diplomatic push in Ankara.
`I even keep a diplomatic note in the drawer of my table as a
souvenir. If the French Constitutional Court hadn't overturned the
bill we would have given that note which said that our ties would have
been decreased to the chargé d'affaires level,' TahsinoÄ?lu said,
revealing for the first time the response that Ankara had decided on.
The first article of the bill passed in the French Parliament and
Senate in 2012 provided for two years of imprisonment or a fine of
45,000 euros for denial of genocides, including the large-scale
massacre of Armenians in 1915. However, the French Constitutional
Court ruled that the bill was anti-constitutional, citing its
contradiction to the freedom of speech.
`In the end, we naturally did not give the diplomatic note. But I will
bring it with me as a souvenir. I may even frame it and hang it [on
the wall],' BurcuoÄ?lu said, adding that the top court's ruling had
been a significant diplomatic success.
`Thanks to you and thanks to our state's erect posture, we have got
through it without a stain. We [worked a miracle],' he said.
BurcuoÄ?lu also conveyed the appraisal message from the French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius.
`Fabius said `you should be proud of what you have achieved.' I
replied that, as a Turk, we never give away our modesty,' he said.
BurcuoÄ?lu had served as Turkey's second civilian head of the National
Security Council before being appointed to Paris.
February/09/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-was-on-brink-of-severing-paris-ties-turkish-envoy-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=62227&NewsCatID=338