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FRENCH BUSINESS CHIEF HITS OUT AT 'GENOCIDE' BILL
Agence France Presse -- English
October 17, 2006 Tuesday
The head of the French employers' federation hit out Tuesday at the
adoption of a French bill that would make it a crime to deny a Turkish
"genocide" of Armenians, saying lawmakers had acted irresponsibly.
"We consider that what was voted goes beyond what was appropriate on
such a serious subject. One cannot take this kind of measure without
thinking of the consequences," MEDEF chief Laurence Parisot told a
press conference.
The French lower house adoption of the bill -- launched by MPs of the
opposition Socialist party but opposed by the centre-right government
-- has sparked fury in Turkey and threatens to jeopardise billions
of dollars' of French trade in the country.
"It is not up to business to write history, but neither is it up to
lawmakers to write it," Parisot said.
"It is easy to see that an overly sharp reaction from Turkish
authorities of economic officials can be very damaging for the health
of French companies," she said.
Calling the development "worrying", Parisot said she was due to meet
the head of the Turkish employers' federation TUSIAD, Omer Sabanci,
later Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the situation.
The French bill, which still has to undergo a Senate vote and a second
lower assembly reading before becoming law, would make it a jailable
offence to deny that the massacres carried out under Ottoman rule
constituted genocide.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered,
but Turkey rejects the use of the term "genocide", saying some 300,000
Armenians died when the Ottoman Empire fell apart, but at least as
many Turks did too.
Agence France Presse -- English
October 17, 2006 Tuesday
The head of the French employers' federation hit out Tuesday at the
adoption of a French bill that would make it a crime to deny a Turkish
"genocide" of Armenians, saying lawmakers had acted irresponsibly.
"We consider that what was voted goes beyond what was appropriate on
such a serious subject. One cannot take this kind of measure without
thinking of the consequences," MEDEF chief Laurence Parisot told a
press conference.
The French lower house adoption of the bill -- launched by MPs of the
opposition Socialist party but opposed by the centre-right government
-- has sparked fury in Turkey and threatens to jeopardise billions
of dollars' of French trade in the country.
"It is not up to business to write history, but neither is it up to
lawmakers to write it," Parisot said.
"It is easy to see that an overly sharp reaction from Turkish
authorities of economic officials can be very damaging for the health
of French companies," she said.
Calling the development "worrying", Parisot said she was due to meet
the head of the Turkish employers' federation TUSIAD, Omer Sabanci,
later Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the situation.
The French bill, which still has to undergo a Senate vote and a second
lower assembly reading before becoming law, would make it a jailable
offence to deny that the massacres carried out under Ottoman rule
constituted genocide.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered,
but Turkey rejects the use of the term "genocide", saying some 300,000
Armenians died when the Ottoman Empire fell apart, but at least as
many Turks did too.