Turkey’s prime minister has asked the French Senate to reject a bill criminalizing genocide denial, as it moves closer to becoming law.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said a bill passed by the French parliament on the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule is “racist” and told the Turkish parliament in Ankara that the bill “murdered freedom of thought”. Armenia said that 1.5 million died in 1915-16 as the Ottoman Empire split. Turkey, which refuses to use the term “genocide”, claims the number of deaths was much smaller. “This is a racist and discriminatory approach and if you cannot see this, then you are deaf to the footsteps of fascism in Europe,” Mr. Erdogan said on Tuesday, a day after the bill was adopted by the French Senate. Correspondents say the French bill threatens to cause a serious rift between France and Turkey, who are Nato allies. Mr. Erdogan said he would take retaliatory measures against France if President Sarkozy approved the law. He did not give specifics on what they would be, nor did he encourage Turkish people to show their own disapproval. The Turkish government argues that judging what happened in eastern Turkey in 1915-16 should be left to historians.
France has already recognized the killings as a genocide but the new bill means anyone denying it faces a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 Euros ($57,000). Among the other states which formally recognize them as genocide are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay, but the UK, US, Israel and others use different terminology. Last April, when the commemoration of the alleged Armenian genocide took place, US President Barack Obama gave a speech in memory of the loss of many Armenian lives in 1915 but stopped short of terming the killings genocide, in an attempt not to harm the fragile balance between Turks and Armenians, both of whom consider the events major building blocks of their national identities.
“This day will be written in gold not only in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French peoples, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of human rights,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian. Ankara froze ties with France after the lower house passed the bill last month. The proposed law had been made more general – outlawing the denial of any genocide – but still failed to appease Ankara. Last week, President Sarkozy wrote to Mr. Erdogan saying the bill did not single out any country.
At the end of February, if France’s president Mr. Sarkozy signs the bill, how will Erdogan react? How will Turkey and France, being NATO allies, affect the other 26 states that are apart of the ally?
BBC Article Here
Today’s Zaman Article Here
