TURKEY CALLS ON FRANCE TO HALT ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL
Jerusalem Post
Dec 20 2011
ANKARA – Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on France on Tuesday
to drop a parliamentary bill making it illegal to deny the 1915 mass
killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was genocide.
Tension has risen between Paris and Ankara in the last week over
a draft law put forward by a member of French President Nicolas
Sarkozy’s party to be debated in parliament on Thursday.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wrote a letter to Sarkozy
last week warning political and economic relations would suffer
grave consequences if the bill is passed. But it is not clear what
unilateral steps Turkey, a WTO member, can take.
“We ask France to immediately give up the initiative that will
bring it into a position where it is does not respect … freedom of
expression,” Gul said in a statement.
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Kajoyan Gevork. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
Direct link to this article: https://www.armenianclub.com/2011/12/21/turkey-calls-on-france-to-halt-genocide-bill/