Month: October 2006

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 13 2006

French Parliament moves ahead with making denial of ‘genocide’ a
crime

The New Anatolian / Paris

French parliamentarians on Thursday approved a bill making it a crime
to question the Armenian genocide claims, following a heated debate,
but a silent vote, on the bill.

Deputies in the French Parliament voted 106-19 for the bill, which
aims at introducing prison terms up to one year and fines up to
45,000 euros to those who question the controversial events of 1915.
There was a low turn-out of deputies from the ruling UMP, which is
known for its opposition to the approval of the bill.

The bill, which was introduced by the opposition Socialist Party
(PS), must still be passed by the Senate and be signed by President
Jacques Chirac to become law. However, analysts say that the ruling
UMP government won’t immediately bring the bill to the Senate floor.
Analysts also added that although bringing the bill to the Senate
could be postponed by the ruling party, there is no period of
prescription for the bill which will drop it from the agenda.

The Armenian bill was approved without including amendment requests
from UMP Deputy Patrik Deveciyan who suggested that studies by
scholars and historians on the Armenian genocide claims shouldn’t
become subject to the law.

Colonna expresses govt’s opposition

Speaking to Parliament ahead of the key vote on behalf of the
government, European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna, who wad once
the spokeswoman of President Jacques Chirac, expressed the French
government’s opposition to the bill.

The French government expressed its opposition to the bill in May and
has not changed its position since then, she said. "There are three
reasons for this. First of all, in 2001 France recognized the
Armenian ‘genocide’ in 1915. This was pointed out by the French
president in Yerevan several weeks ago. We do not think a new one is
necessary," Colonna said.

Citing the opposition of Turkish intellectuals to the bill, Colonna
said that the present law risks creating adverse effects. "We have a
strong friendship and alliance with Turkey, a tie that dates back
centuries. Although we would like our Turkish friends to come to
terms with their past, this demand should go parallel to friendship.
Turkey has taken very courageous steps and its work should be allowed
to continue. Let us be clear, many intellectuals in the country, who
have themselves faced charges on the issue of the genocide, have
called for this law not to be adopted. Are we better placed than they
are to judge? This law risks destroying the fragile steps."

And, as the last point, she stressed that history should be written
by historians, not by politicians, saying, "I repeat what has been
said on this floor: History cannot be written through laws."

Besides Colonna, only two other deputies from the ruling UMP, Pierre
Lequiller and Michel Piron, opposed the bill during their speeches.

Deveciyan: Turkey has no lesson to teach us about repression of
opinions

The UMP’s Deveciyan, during his speech, both criticized the Turkish
government and the European European Enlargement commissioner, saying
that Turkey has no lesson to teach them
about repression of opinions.

Claiming that there is no freedom of _expression in Turkey, Deveciyan
stated that those who use the term "genocide" in Turkey are
imprisoned under Article 301 of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

He and other supporters of the bill taking the floor from the ruling
and opposition parties used a protest by Turks in Lyon against the
inauguration of an Armenian "genocide" monument as a justification
for the need to approve the bill.

"Turkey has begun to export its policy of denial," said Deveciyan,
claiming that the protests in Lyon were organized by the Turkish
government. Deveciyan went on to claim that together with the
decision of the Parliament, they don’t want to write history but they
are continuing to fulfill the needs of the law enacted in 2001,
through which the French Parliament recognized the Armenian genocide
claims.

Armenia accuses Turkey of massacring Armenians during World War I,
when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says Armenians were
killed together with Turks in civil unrest during the collapse of the
empire and in war conditions.

A similar bill was shelved in the spring amid pressure from Ankara.
It was represented by the opposition Socialists.

Turkey supporters abruptly left the Parliament building after the
vote without speaking to reporters. Outside, a few dozen protesters
of Armenian descent celebrated.

Chirac, during a visit to Armenia last month, said the bill "is more
of a polemic than of legal reality" but he also urged Turkey to
recognize "the genocide of Armenians" in order to join the European
Union. "Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and errors of
the past," Chirac said.

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 14 2006

OSCE MISSION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION ESTIMATION IN KARABAKH
SUMMARIZES MONITORING RESULTS

YEREVAN, October 13. /ARKA/. OSCE mission for environmental situation
estimation in Karabakh conflict zone summarized the monitoring
results on Thursday, Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Ministry’s press office
reports.
Experts from Karabakh and Azerbaijan took part in the monitoring.
Before its departure from Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
capital, the mission thanked Karabakh authorities for support in
conducting the monitoring. The mission was comprised of
representatives of the United States, Germany, Macedonia,
Switzerland, Italy, France, Moldova and Estonia
>From Karabakhi side the mission was accompanied by NKR Deputy Foreign
Minister Masis Mailyan and other officials. M.V.-0–

ABHaber, Belgium
EU-Turkey News Network
Oct 14 2006

Andrew Duff:" "France has done huge damage to freedom of speech

FRENCH PARLIAMENT DENIES FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON ARMENIAN ‘GENOCIDE’ –
DUFF

Reacting to this morning’s decision of the French National Assembly
on Armenian ‘genocide’, Andrew Duff MEP, Vice-President of the
European Parliament’s delegation to Turkey and Liberal Democrat
Constitutional Affairs Spokesperson, said:

"This is a sad day for liberalism in France. The Assemblée Nationale
has rejected the fundamental right of freedom of speech. It has acted
in direct contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights on
which basis the European Union is founded. For friends of France,
this is a poignant moment.

"Who would have thought that it would be French deputies who would be
the first in the 21st Century to reject the spirit of the
Enlightenment. Voltaire must be spinning in his grave.

"France has done huge damage to EU-Turkey relations and, in passing,
to Turkish relations with Armenia. Progressive forces in Turkey have
been given a gratuitous blow. How can the EU expect Turkey to develop
its laws and practice on freedom of speech when France, one of its
founding members, is going in the opposite direction?

"Europe’s friends in Turkey should not despair. The French Sénat
should throw out this Bill. But the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights
should get ready to review the measure should it, unfortunately,
pass."

ABHaber 13.10.2006 Brussels

The Daily Star, Lebanon
Oct 14 2006

Don’t negotiate over the gains of enlightened discourse

By Ralf Dahrendorf
Commentary by
Saturday, October 14, 2006

Not long ago, one might have concluded that, at least in Europe,
there were no taboos left. A process that had begun with the
Enlightenment had now reached the point at which "anything goes."
Particularly in the arts, there were no apparent limits to showing
what even a generation ago would have been regarded as highly
offensive.

Two generations ago, most countries had censors who not only tried to
prevent younger people from seeing certain films but who actually
banned books. Since the 1960’s, such proscriptions have weakened
until, in the end, explicit sexuality, violence, blasphemy – while
upsetting to some people – were tolerated as a part of the
enlightened world.

Or were they? Are there really no limits? Outside Europe, the
"anything goes" attitude was never fully accepted. And there were
limits in Europe, too. The historian David Irving is still in
detention in Austria for the crime of Holocaust denial. This is, to
be sure, a special case. The denial of a well-documented truth may
lead to new crimes. But is the answer to the old question, "What is
truth?" always so clear?

What exactly are we doing if we insist on Turkey’s acknowledgement
that the Armenian genocide did take place as a condition of its
membership in the European Union? Are we so sure of Darwin’s theories
of evolution that we should ban alternative notions of genesis from
schools?

Those concerned with freedom of speech have always wondered about its
limits. One such limit is the incitement to violence. The man who
gets up in a crowded theater and shouts, "Fire!" when there is none
is guilty of what happens in the resulting stampede. But what if
there actually is a fire?

This is the context in which we may see the invasion of Islamic
taboos into the enlightened, mostly non-Islamic world. From the fatwa
on Salman Rushdie for "The Satanic Verses" to the killing of a nun in
Somalia in response to Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg lecture and the
Berlin Opera’s cancellation of a performance of Mozart’s "Idomeneo,"
with its severed heads of religious founders, including Mohammad, we
have seen violence and intimidation used to defend a particular
religion’s taboos.

There are questions here that are not easily answered by civilized
defenders of the Enlightenment. Toleration and respect for people who
have their own beliefs are right and perhaps necessary to preserve an
enlightened world. But there is the other side to consider. Violent
responses to unwelcome views are never justified and cannot be
accepted. Those who argue that suicide bombers express understandable
grudges have themselves sold out their freedom. Self-censorship is
worse than censorship itself, because it sacrifices freedom
voluntarily.

This means that we have to defend Salman Rushdie and the Danish
cartoonists and the friends of "Idomeneo," whether we like them or
not. If anyone does not like them, there are all the instruments of
public debate and of critical discourse that an enlightened community
has at its disposal. It is also true we do not have to buy any
particular book or listen to an opera. What a poor world it would be
if anything that might offend any group could no longer be said! A
multicultural society that accepts every taboo of its diverse groups
would have little to talk about.

The kind of reaction we have seen recently to expressions of views
that are offensive to some does not bode well for the future of
liberty. It is as if a new wave of counterenlightenment is sweeping
the world, with the most restrictive views dominating the scene.
Against such reactions, enlightened views must be reasserted
strongly. Defending the right of all people to say things even if one
detests their views is one of the first principles of liberty.

Thus, "Idomeneo" must be performed, and Rushdie must be published.
Whether an editor publishes cartoons offensive to believers in
Mohammad (or Christ, for that matter) is a matter of judgment, almost
of taste. I might not do it, but I would nevertheless defend the
right of someone who decides otherwise. It is debatable whether
recent incidents of this kind require a "dialogue between religions."
Public debate making clear cases one way or the other seems more
appropriate than conciliation. The gains of enlightened discourse are
too precious to be turned into negotiable values. Defending those
gains is the task that we now face.

Ralf Dahrendorf, a former European commissioner from Germany, is a
member of the British House of Lords, a former rector of the London
School of Economics, and a former warden of St. Antony’s College,
Oxford. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration
with Project Syndicate ().

New York Times
Oct 14 2006

EU backs Turkey over French law
By Sebnem Arsu The New York Times

Published: October 13, 2006

ISTANBUL Senior European Union officials sided with Turkey on Friday
in a growing controversy over legislation in France that would make
it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians in Turkey during
and after World War I constituted genocide.

A statement by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European
Commission, coincided with satisfaction in Turkey that Orhan Pamuk,
who has been involved in controversy over the Armenia issue, had been
named the first Turkish novelist to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature.

"We don’t think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the
context of the European Union’s relations with Turkey," The
Associated Press quoted Barroso as saying in Helsinki. "This is not
the best way to contribute to something we think is important."

The French National Assembly approved the bill Thursday and it now
moves to the Senate for action. Turkey has denounced the legislation.

The EU commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, also quoted by The
AP, said the bill, "instead of opening up the debate, would rather
close it down, and thus have a negative impact."

"We don’t achieve real dialogue and real reconciliation by
ultimatums, but by dialogue," Rehn continued. "Therefore, this law is
counterproductive."

Many Turkish newspapers, meanwhile, showered Pamuk with praise, but
some also noted the irony that a writer who had faced charges of
"insulting Turkishness" for saying that "one million Armenians were
killed in Turkey" during World War I, was awarded the prize on the
day of the vote in France.

"Pamuk who is given the Nobel Prize, accepts the Armenian genocide,"
said Ozdemir Ince, a critic of the novelist. "Turkey has been put on
sale and Turkish history has been sold in an auction at the lowest
price."

Bulent Arinc, the speaker of Parliament, praised Pamuk but called on
him to help clarify the debate surrounding his prize. "Since he is a
writer, what are his thoughts on the law in France that massacres
freedom of expression?" Arinc asked. "Not only the Turkish society
but the whole world is curious about it."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Pamuk in New York on
Friday to congratulate him. The writer is teaching at Columbia
University for a semester.

Turkey has denied charges that it committed genocide against the
Armenians and asserts that Armenians and Turks alike were killed in
civil unrest during World War I. The issue often results in charges
against intellectuals and writers in court: The genocide claim is
regarded as an insult to Turkish identity and is considered a crime.

Many writers voiced support for Pamuk. "We welcomed his prize with
great joy," Vecdi Sayar, the head of PEN in Turkey, said in Milliyet
newspaper. "Various interpretations are being and will be made but I
think this prize will make serious contributions to Turkish
literature."

Yasar Kemal, another of Turkey’s best-known novelists, who has
himself faced prosecution, congratulated Pamuk. "I trust that you
will continue writing new novels with the same passion. I have no
doubt that you will also stand by what you believe in with full
determination," he said in a message printed in the Turkish press.

Pamuk, in a news conference in New York on Thursday declined to
respond to accusations that his selection was a political decision.

In a statement to the newspaper Radikal, he said: "I consider this
prize as one given to Turkish culture, literature and writers as a
whole. I would like my country to be proud and help me carry it."

ISTANBUL Senior European Union officials sided with Turkey on Friday
in a growing controversy over legislation in France that would make
it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians in Turkey during
and after World War I constituted genocide.

A statement by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European
Commission, coincided with satisfaction in Turkey that Orhan Pamuk,
who has been involved in controversy over the Armenia issue, had been
named the first Turkish novelist to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature.

"We don’t think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the
context of the European Union’s relations with Turkey," The
Associated Press quoted Barroso as saying in Helsinki. "This is not
the best way to contribute to something we think is important."

The French National Assembly approved the bill Thursday and it now
moves to the Senate for action. Turkey has denounced the legislation.

The EU commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, also quoted by The
AP, said the bill, "instead of opening up the debate, would rather
close it down, and thus have a negative impact."

"We don’t achieve real dialogue and real reconciliation by
ultimatums, but by dialogue," Rehn continued. "Therefore, this law is
counterproductive."

Many Turkish newspapers, meanwhile, showered Pamuk with praise, but
some also noted the irony that a writer who had faced charges of
"insulting Turkishness" for saying that "one million Armenians were
killed in Turkey" during World War I, was awarded the prize on the
day of the vote in France.

"Pamuk who is given the Nobel Prize, accepts the Armenian genocide,"
said Ozdemir Ince, a critic of the novelist. "Turkey has been put on
sale and Turkish history has been sold in an auction at the lowest
price."

Bulent Arinc, the speaker of Parliament, praised Pamuk but called on
him to help clarify the debate surrounding his prize. "Since he is a
writer, what are his thoughts on the law in France that massacres
freedom of expression?" Arinc asked. "Not only the Turkish society
but the whole world is curious about it."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Pamuk in New York on
Friday to congratulate him. The writer is teaching at Columbia
University for a semester.

Turkey has denied charges that it committed genocide against the
Armenians and asserts that Armenians and Turks alike were killed in
civil unrest during World War I. The issue often results in charges
against intellectuals and writers in court: The genocide claim is
regarded as an insult to Turkish identity and is considered a crime.

Many writers voiced support for Pamuk. "We welcomed his prize with
great joy," Vecdi Sayar, the head of PEN in Turkey, said in Milliyet
newspaper. "Various interpretations are being and will be made but I
think this prize will make serious contributions to Turkish
literature."

Yasar Kemal, another of Turkey’s best-known novelists, who has
himself faced prosecution, congratulated Pamuk. "I trust that you
will continue writing new novels with the same passion. I have no
doubt that you will also stand by what you believe in with full
determination," he said in a message printed in the Turkish press.

Pamuk, in a news conference in New York on Thursday declined to
respond to accusations that his selection was a political decision.

In a statement to the newspaper Radikal, he said: "I consider this
prize as one given to Turkish culture, literature and writers as a
whole. I would like my country to be proud and help me carry it."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BBC News, UK
Oct 14 2006

Pride and suspicion over Pamuk prize
By Sarah Rainsford
BBC News, Istanbul

Pamuk is one of the youngest writers to have won the prize
The novels of Orhan Pamuk are now piled high in the windows of
Istanbul bookshops. His smiling face beams from the front page of
every newspaper.

"Our Pride," is the headline in Radikal. "Thank you Orhan!" blazes
BirGun.

"It’s very important, I congratulate him," says bookseller Mehmet,
who moved all his Pamuk stock to the front of the store as soon as he
heard that the first ever Turk had won the Nobel Prize for
Literature.

"It’s not only Orhan Pamuk who’s won here. This prize will be a
chance for all the world to get to know Turkish literature."

Even before the Nobel announcement, Orhan Pamuk was Turkey’s
best-selling novelist by far.

Each of his books had sold more than 115,000 copies here at home. He
has been translated into dozens of foreign languages – and demand is
now soaring.

In the first four hours after the news from Sweden, Pamuk’s
publishers in Istanbul received another 6,000 orders. They have had
to allocate extra printing presses to keep up.

But Orhan Pamuk is a difficult hero for some in Turkey.

‘Western plot’

Earlier this year nationalist groups labelled the author a traitor
when he spoke out on two of Turkey’s most sensitive issues – claims
that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against the Armenians nine
decades ago, and the plight of ethnic Kurds in modern-day Turkey.

His comments earned him death threats – and criminal charges.

He didn’t get this award for his literature, they gave it to make a
point to us here in Turkey

Pamuk critic
Pamuk was put on trial for insulting Turkishness, sparking a wave of
pressure from the EU which accused Turkey of limiting free speech.

"For his words, or his pen?" demands the headline in Vatan newspaper.
Inside a columnist argues that the Nobel Prize decision is part of a
dark Western plot against Turkey.

"I’m not proud Pamuk won. This is all political," Gokhan protests
outside another Istanbul bookshop sporting a brand-new window display
devoted to the writer.

"He didn’t get this award for his literature, they gave it to make a
point to us here in Turkey."

"The nationalists will see Pamuk’s win as their loss. It’s as if they
let in a goal in a football match," Ragip Zarokolu explains.

The dissident publisher is on trial himself here for publishing books
on the fate of the Ottoman Armenians.

He believes Pamuk fully deserves his Nobel Prize, for his literature.

"But I feel those of us who dare to speak about our history and face
our taboos have won a moral victory with this award too," Ragip
Zarokolu adds.

"It’s an award for the right not to be silent, for freedom of
expression."

Orhan Pamuk himself is abroad at the moment, where he pronounced
himself honoured to receive such recognition.

Official silence

But in the narrow cobbled streets close to his Istanbul home his
neighbours are divided over the news.

"He comes in here sometimes to buy kiwi fruit and chocolate, he
always says hello," enthuses Mehmet, shopkeeper at Pamuk’s nearest
grocer’s.

Turkish people should recognise that Orhan Pamuk has achieved a
great success and that he is serving the Turkish nation

Bahar Siber
Pamuk editor
"Of course we’re pleased he’s brought a prize to our country," he
adds. "But is he really on Turkey’s side?"

"He wanted fame and he’s got it," the local florist fumes. "But look
at all the muck he’s spread with his comments about the Armenians!"

Neither Turkey’s prime minister nor its president has congratulated
Pamuk publicly on winning such a prestigious award, a sign perhaps of
how divisive a figure he is here – and how sensitive the Armenian
issue in particular remains.

The prize announcement came on the same day that the French
parliament voted to make denial of the Armenian genocide a criminal
offence, a decision that infuriated many Turks.

Work in progress

But at Iletisim publishing house in Istanbul there is no doubt that
their most successful author fully deserves his Nobel Prize for his
literary genius alone.

"As a novelist he has his own political thoughts, that is natural,"
believes Bahar Siber, one of a team of editors who works closely with
Pamuk. "But this prize is because he invested great efforts for years
in the art of novel writing."

Iletisim has published Pamuk since 1994.

"I think Turkish people should recognize that Orhan Pamuk has
achieved a great success and that he is serving the Turkish nation,"
his editor argues. "He should be a source of pride."

For those who agree, there is good news: the editor revealed that
Orhan Pamuk’s next novel is due out next year.

"I’m excited," Mr Siber admits, explaining that the book will be a
new departure for the author – a contemporary love story, to be
called Museum of Innocence.

"He has not submitted his first draft to us yet, we’re expecting the
manuscript very soon."

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Oct 14 2006

Envoy admits to Armenian lobby’s influence on Paris

AssA-Irada 14/10/2006 02:00

The French ambassador to Azerbaijan Bernard du Chaffaut has said that
if the latest decision by the National Assembly of France goes into
effect, this could harm the country’s relations with Turkey and
Azerbaijan.

The bill, tabled in the legislature by opposition Socialist Party and
passed Thursday, criminalizes denying the `genocide of Armenians’.
Although the law was passed the assembly, it will not go into effect
unless it is approved by the French parliament’s upper chamber, the
Senate.

Armenians say Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people in 1915, a
claim strongly denied by Turkey.
The envoy told a news conference Friday that he is disappointed with
the adoption of the bill in the lower chamber of parliament,
expressing hope that the measure will not be approved by the Senate.
The measure has sparked off outcry in France as well, he said.

Du Chaffaut emphasized that the fact it passed the lower chamber does
not mean it will be approved, as making any bill law in France
requires a very lengthy procedure. `I hope this procedure will not be
completed.’

He said France’s Constitutional Council may intervene as well. The
body may deem it contradictory to freedom of expression.

`Finally, although the president has no right of veto, he may send it
back for repeated deliberations at the National Assembly.’

Du Chaffaut admitted that the Armenian lobby influences the French
government. `I suspect that the law was supported by some Armenian
voters in some election constituencies.’

The diplomat said France has come under pressure of the European
Union to reject the law.
Du Chaffaut said the latest developments will not lead to a
postponement of French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to Azerbaijan
next year. Such decisions, he said, are up to the presidents, but
said he is confident the visit will take place.

The ambassador said he does not expect tension to escalate in
French-Turkish relations and called on the Turkish Diaspora to
actively struggle against the adoption of the genocide law.

Azerbaijani MPs on Tuesday protested at the bill and forwarded a
relevant appeal to the French legislature.
The Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan Turan Morali has termed the move
as `major injustice against his country that is primitive and
embarrassing’.

A group of the Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party members attempted
to hold a rally outside the French embassy in Baku on Friday in
protest at the adoption of the `genocide’ bill. The protest was
prevented by the police.

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 14 2006

Armenians Protest Turkish Troops
By Fatih Artun – Cihan News Agency, Beirut

zaman.com

About 5,000 Armenians protested the arrival of Turkish troops in
southern Lebanon to join the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Waving Armenian and Tashnak flags, the crowd chanted anti-Turkish
slogans, carried placards protesting Turkey’s cooperation with Israel
and accused and shouted accusations of the purported Armenian
genocide.

Associated Press
Oct 14 2006

EU slams French bill on Armenian deaths

MATTI HUUHTANEN
Associated Press

HELSINKI, Finland – The European Union on Friday condemned a French
bill making it a crime to deny that the World War I-era killing of
Armenians in Turkey was genocide, calling it unhelpful at a critical
stage in the Muslim country’s EU entry talks.

The bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower house Thursday,
but still needs approval by the French Senate and President Jacques
Chirac to become law. Turkey has said the decision would harm
relations with France.

Chirac’s government is thought to be unlikely to forward the bill for
passage by the Senate.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said "we don’t
think this decision at this moment is helpful in the context of the
European Union’s relations with Turkey."

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the bill came at a bad
time as the 25-member bloc was trying to avoid "a train crash" in
negotiations with Turkey.

"This law is counterproductive," he told reporters.

France, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people whose
families came from Armenia, has already recognized the 1915-1919
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. Under the bill,
those who contest it was genocide would risk up to a year in prison
and fines of up to $56,000.

Armenia accuses Turkey of massacring Armenians during World War I,
when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says Armenians were
killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the empire.

IFEX, Canada
Oct 14 2006

National Assembly passes draft law criminalising the denial of
Armenian genocide

Français: L’Assemblée nationale adopte un projet de loi pénalisant la
négation du génocide arménien
Country/Topic: France
Date: 13 October 2006
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s):
Target(s):
Type(s) of violation(s): censored
Urgency: Threat
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF strongly regrets the first reading passage of a law
that would make it a crime punishable by prison sentence to deny the
1915 Armenian genocide. The organisation notes that memorial laws are
part of the creation of an official historical truth – a practice
typical of totalitarian regimes – and expressed the hope that
senators, who are to examine the draft law shortly, will have the
wisdom to reject it.

The French National Assembly passed the draft law on 12 October 2006.
The law would make denial of the Armenian genocide a crime punishable
by five years in jail and a 45,000-euro fine.
The law complements a 19 January 2001 law which publicly recognised
the genocide.

"There is obviously no question of going back on the recognition of
the Armenian genocide, but legislating on it will expose anyone
denying it to harsh judicial penalties set out by the 18 July 1881
law on press freedom (Article 24a). Memorial laws contribute to the
creation of an official historical truth. This practice, typical of
totalitarian regimes, is incompatible with France’s fundamental
values, starting with freedom of expression," said the organisation.

"Not only is it absurd that free expression – however contestable,
and that is not the question – should be subjected to a constraint
which is, in addition, a threat, but it seems to us that this
legalistic concept of history will be much more likely to stoke up
antagonism than to promote debate.

"It is particularly symbolic that this vote should have been held on
the same day of the awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature to
Orhan Pamuk, who was himself taken to court by the Turkish
authorities for having raised the issue of this genocide," RSF
stressed.

RSF hopes that senators due to examine the law on second reading will
pay less attention to upcoming elections and have the wisdom to
reject it. If not, it could have incalculable consequences for all
historians as well as for press freedom.

MORE INFORMATION:

For further information, contact Zuzana Loubet del Bayle at RSF, 5,
rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 67, fax:
+33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: [email protected], Internet: