Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: Turkey Warns France Over Bill On So-Called Armenian Genocide

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANKARA: Turkey Warns France Over Bill On So-Called Armenian Genocide

    TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OVER BILL ON SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    Hurriyet, Turkey
    May 4 2006

    France was warned by Turkey on Wednesday that bilateral ties could
    suffer if the French Parliament adopts a bill that would criminalize
    any denial that Armenians massacred during World War I were victims
    of genocide."In our meetings (with French officials), we stress that
    adoption of the bill could lead to irreparable damage in long-standing
    Turkish-French ties and that this should not be allowed," Foreign
    Ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a news conference here.

    Tan said Ankara is doing everything it can to block the bill, adding
    that the French government is doing the same.

    The bill, expected to be voted on later this month, provides for one
    year's imprisonment and a $57,000 fine for denying Armenians were
    victims of genocide, Turkish press reports said.

    If adopted, it will follow a 2001 French decision that infuriated
    Turkey by acknowledging that the mass killings in the dying days of
    the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide.

    Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
    orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 by Turks, as the Ottoman
    Empire was falling apart.

    Turkey categorically rejects the claims, saying 300,000 Armenians
    and at least as many Turks died in civil strife.
Working...
X