TURKEY WARNS FRANCE OVER GENOCIDE DRAFT BILL
Voice of America
Dec 20 2011
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has called on France to drop a
parliamentary bill that would make it illegal to deny the 1915 mass
killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was genocide.
Mr Gul issued a strong statement to France Tuesday, saying it was not
possible for Turkey to accept a draft law which denies the freedom
to reject unjust and groundless accusations targeting Turkey.
The lower house of France’s parliament will debate the draft law on
Thursday. If passed, the law would punish genocide denials with a
year in prison and a fine of $58,500.
Armenia says as many as 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by Ottoman
Turks before and during World War One and the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire. Ankara denies the killings constitute genocide. It says the
death toll was exaggerated and the dead were victims of civil war
and unrest.
Turkey has also warned of “grave consequences” to economic and
political relations between the two countries if the law passes.
Turkey says it will recall its Paris ambassador for consultations
and ask the French ambassador to leave Ankara.
President Gul also insinuated that the timing of the draft law is
aimed at winning the votes of Armenian-French citizens in upcoming
elections. Bilateral relations between France and Turkey are already
strained because French President Nicolas Sarkozy opposes Turkey’s
bid to join the European Union.