Author: Babajanian Karo

TURKEY BLASTS FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL AS RACISM AND CUTS TIES
John Irish and Ibon Villelabeitia

Cyprus Mail
December 22, 2011 Thursday

France sparked a major diplomatic row with Turkey today by taking
steps to criminalise the denial of genocide, including the 1915 mass
killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, prompting Ankara to cancel
all economic, political and military meetings.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the draft law put forward by
members of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Enhanced Coverage LinkingNicolas
Sarkozy’s -Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60
Daysruling party was “politics based on racism, discrimination,
xenophobia.”

“This is using Turkophobia and Islamophobia to gain votes, and it
raises concerns regarding these issues not only in France but all
Europe,” he told a news conference, adding that Turkey could “not
remain silent in the face of this”.

France had opened wounds with Turkey that would be difficult to mend,
he said, adding that Sarkozy, who faces a tough re-election battle
in April, was sacrificing good ties “for the sake of political
calculations”.

Erdogan said Turkey was cancelling all economic, political and military
meetings with its NATO partner and said it would cancel permission
for French military planes to land, and warships to dock, in Turkey.

Earlier in the day, Turkish officials told Reuters their ambassador
in Paris had been recalled for consultations.

Lawmakers in France’s National Assembly – the lower house of parliament
– voted overwhelmingly in favour of the bill, which will be debated
next year in the Senate.

A French diplomatic source said Paris still considered fellow NATO
member Turkey an important partner.

“I don’t understand why France wants to censor my freedom of
expression,” Yildiz Hamza, president of the Montargis association
that represents 700 Turkish families in France, told Reuters outside
the National Assembly.

Earlier, about 3,000 French nationals of Turkish origin demonstrated
peacefully outside the parliament ahead of the vote, which came 32
years to the day since a Turkish diplomat was assassinated by Armenian
militants in central Paris.

The authorities in Yerevan welcomed the vote. “By adopting this
bill (France) reconfirmed that crimes against humanity do not have a
period of prescription and their denial must be absolutely condemned,”
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian saying in a statement.

France passed a law recognising the killing of Armenians as genocide
in 2001. The French lower house first passed a bill criminalising
the denial of an Armenian genocide in 2006, but it was rejected by
the Senate in May this year.

The latest draft law was made more general to outlaw the denial of
any genocide, partly in the hope of appeasing Turkey.

It could still face a long passage into law, though its backers want
to see it completed before parliament is suspended at the end of
February ahead of elections in the second quarter.

National Assembly speaker Bernard Accoyer said on Wednesday that he
doubted the bill would pass by the end of the current parliament,
as the government had not made the bill priority legislation.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5
million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey
during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by
the Ottoman government.

Successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the
charge of genocide is an insult to their nation. Ankara argues that
there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the area.

The French government has stressed that it did not initiate the bill,
which mandates a 45,000-euro fine and a year in jail for offenders,
and says Turkey cannot impose unilateral trade sanctions.

Faced with Sarkozy’s open hostility to Turkey’s stagnant bid to join
the European Union, and buoyed by a fast-growing economy, Ankara has
little to lose by picking a political fight with Paris.

With Turkey taking an increasingly influential role in the Arab
world and Middle East, especially Syria, Iran and Libya, France could
experience some diplomatic discomfort, and French firms could lose
out on lucrative Turkish contracts.

France is Turkey’s fifth biggest export market and the sixth biggest
source of its imports.

“Turkey is a democracy and has joined the World Trade Organisation so
it can’t just discriminate for political reasons against countries,”
Europe Minister Jean Leonetti told France Inter radio. “I think
these threats are just hot air and we (have) to begin a much more
reasoned dialogue.”

Ankara considers the bill, originally proposed by 40 deputies from
Sarkozy’s party, an attempt to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic
Armenians in France in next year’s elections.

It believes the measure would limit freedom of speech and represents
an unnecessary meddling by politicians in a business best left to
historians.

The French bill feeds a sense shared by many Turks that they are
unwanted by Europe and it fires up nationalist fervour. However, in
a more self-confident Turkey, popular reaction has been more muted
than in the past.

France has been pushing Turkey to own up to its history, just as France
belatedly recognised the role of its collaborationist Vichy government
during World War II in deporting Jews to Nazi concentration camps.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: DISPUTED MASSACRES OF 1915-17

Agence France Presse
December 22, 2011 Thursday 1:11 PM GMT

Armenia and Turkey are at odds over whether the massacres and
deportations of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 by their Ottoman
rulers should be described as “genocide”, as recognised by France,
Canada, and the European Parliament.

In France, the first major European country to have recognised the
genocide, lawmakers in the lower house on Thursday adopted a draft
law to ban the denial of the genocide despite fierce warnings from
Turkey of a diplomatic crisis and economic consequences.

In 2007 Switzerland banned denial of the Armenian genocide, in line
with its anti-racist legislation.

Armenia says the massacres and deportations left more than 1.5
million of its people dead, while Turkey puts the number from 250,000
to 500,000.

Clashes with the Turks had already started at the end of the 19th
century as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, claiming 200,000
lives between 1894 and 1909, according to Armenian sources.

Then, in October 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I, at
the side of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

On April 24, 1915, thousands of Armenians suspected of having
nationalist sentiments hostile to the central Ottoman government
were rounded up. On May 26, a special law authorised deportations
“for reasons of internal security”.

The Armenian population of Anatolia and Cilicia, called by the Ottoman
Empire “the enemy within”, was forced into exile in the Mesopotamian
desert with a large number of Armenians killed on the way or in
the camps.

The Ottoman Empire was dismantled in 1920, two years after the creation
of an independent Armenian state in May 1918.

Turkey accepts today that massacres were carried out and that many
Armenians were killed while being deported, but describes the bloodshed
as civil strife.

It says the Armenians collaborated with the Russian enemy during World
War I, and that tens of thousands of Turks were killed at their hands.

The European Parliament recognised the killings as genocide on June
18, 1987.

France in 2001 became the first large European state to follow suit
through a law stating that “France publicly recognises the 1915
Armenian genocide”, without stating that the Turks were responsible.

Among the countries or parliaments which have recognised the genocide
are Uruguay (1965), the Russian Duma (1994), the Belgian Senate (1998),
the Swiss lower house (2003), the Canadian House of Commons (2004),
the Argentinian Senate (2005) and the Swedish parliament (2010).

In March 2010 a US Congress panel also recognised the genocide.

Today 3.2 million Armenians live in Armenia, while a diaspora of more
than eight million Armenians has settled mainly in Russia, the Middle
East, Canada, the United States and France.

TURKEY AND FRANCE TRADE ACCUSATIONS OF GENOCIDAL HISTORY

Christian Science Monitor

Dec 23 2011

Turkey and France tussle over genocide bill: Turkey, angered by a
French bill forbidding denial of the mass killings of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks as genocide, accused France of committing genocide
during its occupation of Algeria.

Turkey responded to French genocide allegations with a charge of its
own Friday, accusing France of committing genocide during its colonial
occupation of Algeria.

French lawmakers passed a bill Thursday making it a crime to deny that
the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks constitute genocide.

The deepening acrimony between two strategic allies and trading
partners could have repercussions far beyond the settling of accounts
over some of the bloodiest episodes of the past century.

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Turkey was already frustrated by French opposition to its stalled
European Union bid, and hopes for Western-backed rapprochement between
Turkey and Armenia seem ever more distant ahead of 2015, the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian killings.

The bill strikes at the heart of national honor in Turkey, which
maintains there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians and
that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of the
Ottoman Empire.

The French bill still needs Senate approval, but after it passed
the lower house, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan halted
bilateral political and economic contacts, suspended military
cooperation, and ordered his country’s ambassador home for
consultations.

Turkey and France worked closely together during NATO’s operation
against Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, and had been coordinating
policy on Syria and Afghanistan.

“What the French did in Algeria was genocide,” Mr. Erdogan said Friday
in a heavily personal speech, laced with criticism of French President
Nicolas Sarkozy.

He alleged that beginning in 1945, about 15 percent of the population
of Algeria was massacred by the French. He also said Algerians were
burned in ovens.

“They were mercilessly martyred,” he said.

Erdogan appeared to be referring to allegations that the French burned
the dead in ovens after a 1945 uprising that began in the Algerian
town of Setif. Algerians say some 45,000 people may have died. French
figures say up to 20,000.

The French bill’s passage “is a clear example of how racism,
discrimination, and anti-Muslim sentiment have reached new heights
in France and in Europe,” Erdogan said. “French President Sarkozy’s
ambition is to win an election based on promoting animosity against
Turks and Muslims.”

France holds presidential elections in April.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the French vote was
comparable with attempts by Mideast rulers to stifle free speech.

“Europe has philosophically and ideologically reverted to the Middle
Ages,” Mr. Davutoglu said at a conference of Turkish ambassadors in
Ankara, the capital.

France formally recognized the Armenian killings as genocide in 2001,
but had previously provided no penalty for anyone refuting that. The
bill sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine of
45,000 euros ($59,000) for those who deny or “outrageously minimize”
the killings, putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust.

France is committed to human rights and respect for “historical
memory,” Mr. Sarkozy said in Prague, where he was attending the
funeral of Vaclav Havel, the dissident who became president of the
Czech Republic.

“France doesn’t give lessons to anyone, but France also doesn’t
plan on taking them,” Sarkozy said in a clip shown on France’s LCI
television. “I respect the convictions of our Turkish friends – it’s a
grand country, a grand civilization – and they must respect ours. To
cede on one’s convictions is always cowardice, and one always ends
up by paying for cowardice.”

Most historians contend the Ottoman killings of up to 1.5 million
Armenians constituted the first genocide of the 20th century. But
the issue is dicey for any government that wants a strong alliance
with Turkey, a rising power. In Washington, President Barack Obama
has stopped short of calling the killings genocide.

The Armenian National Committee of America said the French vote
“reinforces the growing international consensus – and the mounting
pressure on Turkey – for a truthful and just resolution of the
Armenian Genocide.”

TURKEY, FRANCE ROW MAY JEOPARDIZE MISSILE SALE

DefenseWorld.net
,%20France%20Row%20May%20Jeopardize%20Missile%20Sale
Dec 23 2011

Turkey’s suspension of military cooperation with France may make it
harder to sell the Franco-Italian Aster 30 air defense missile to
the Turkish authorities, a defense executive said Dec. 23.

Ankara froze bilateral defense cooperation and recalled its ambassador
to France in retaliation to a new French law making it illegal to deny
that genocides took place, including the deaths of Armenians in 1915.

“It doesn’t make things easier, that’s for sure,” the executive
said. “That makes relations tense with France.” Eurosam, a joint
venture between French electronics company Thales and European
missile maker MBDA, is prime contractor for the Sol-Air Moyenne
Portee/Terrestre (SAMP/T) ground-based air defense system.

The SAMP/T system is competing in Turkey’s tender for a long-range
air and missile defense system. It is ranged against the Patriot
missile from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, the S300 from Russia’s
Rosoboronexport, and the HQ-9 from China Precision Machinery
Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC).

GENOCIDE TIT-FOR-TAT: TURKEY SAYS FRANCE SLAUGHTERED ALGERIANS

Russia Today

Dec 23 2011

Turkey has hit back at France, accusing it of committing genocide
against Algerians, after French lawmakers passed a bill which makes the
denial of the Armenian “holocaust” a crime. The Turkish PM described
the bill as racist and anti-Muslim.

Turkey has gone far beyond conventional diplomatic and economic
gestures in reacting to the move, insisting French actions during
its colonial rule over Algeria and during the Algerian War amounted
to genocide.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that “around 15
percent of the population of Algeria was massacred by the French,
starting in 1945.” He added that Algerians were “mercilessly martyred”
and “burned en masse in ovens” by the French.

Erdogan believes that French President Nicholas Sarkozy is trying to
raise more support ahead of elections by “promoting animosity against
Turks and Muslims,” as France has a large expatriate community of
Armenians who are expected to welcome the new bill, should it be
passed by the Senate.

Erdogan’s statement came on Friday, a day after the French lower house
passed a bill that made it a crime to deny that the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide. It will only
become law if approved by the Senate, which blocked the law last time
an attempt was made to introduce it.

On Thursday, Turkey suspended all political and economic ties with
France, including military cooperation, and ordered its ambassador to
return to Ankara for “consultations.” The country fiercely denies it
took part in a genocide of Armenians during World War I, even though
most historians agree that it did.

Meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian thanked France
for its support in voting through the bill.

“By passing a bill criminalizing the denial of the genocide, France
has once again proven its commitment to general human values,”
Nalbandian said, as cited by Interfax.

ARMENIAN EXPERT: THE YELLOW CARD SHOWN BY FRANCE TO TURKEY CAN SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER COUNTRIES RECOGNIZING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

arminfo
Friday, December 23, 21:23

The yellow card shown by France to Turkey can serve as an example for
all the other countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide,
and if our authorities conduct an appropriate foreign policy, they
will be able to make this possible, expert of the European Integration
NGO Manvel Gumarshyan said during a press-conference on Friday.

“Many European countries have laws punishing people for denying the
Holocaust, and so, if acting effectively and jointly with the Diaspora,
the Armenian authorities can persuade the countries with big Armenian
communities to follow France’s example,” the expert said.

He said that the bill adopted by the French National Assembly was the
first yellow card for Turkey, and if the Turkish authorities fail
to ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols, there will be the second
card – the approval of the bill by the French Senate. This bill is
the result of Turkey’s ineffective policy in 2011, and if the Turkish
authorities fail to ratify the protocols by Apr 24, the US President
may finally pronounce the “genocide” word during his annual speech.

On Thursday the French National Assembly approved a bill stipulating
one year in prison and 45,000 EUR fine for the denial of the Armenian
Genocide.

IRAN, ARMENIA HAVE COMMON STAND ON INT’L ISSUES

IRNA
December 23, 2011
YEREVAN

Yerevan, Dec 23, IRNA – Iran and Armenia have common stand on
various regional and international issues, Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said on Friday.

He made the remarks in a speech at the Armenian Parliament on Friday.

“Tehran and Yerevan have similar stand on various issues including the
establishment of peace and justice in the world,” Iranian president
added.

Ahmadinejad declared his support for expansion of parliamentarian
relations between Tehran and Yerevan.

Pointing to the presence and martyrdom of Armenian-Iranian citizens
in Iraq imposed war against Tehran; he added that “Islamic Republic
of Iran is grateful of Armenian minorities.”

Armenian Parliament Speaker Samvel Nikoyan for his part emphasized
the importance of development of relations between Tehran and Yerevan.

“Increase of parliamentarian relations between Tehran and Yerevan
can facilitate promotion of relations of the two sides,” he said.

Armenia parliament speaker thanked Islamic Republic respect for
Armenian minority in Iran, adding that good living of Armenian
minorities in Iran is a good example of peaceful co-existence of
different ethnic groups in a country.

President Ahmadinejad also in his meeting with Armenia Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan underlined that “Tehran and Yerevan have good ancient,
cultural relations and the two side relations in the past decades
have been always constructive.’ Armenian prime minister for his part,
called for development of relations between the two countries, adding
that Iran is an important regional power.

Visiting Iranian president had also a meeting with Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan and discussed major topics concerning bilateral,
regional, and international issues.

Ahmadinejad and Sargsyan emphasized, in a joint statement published
on Friday, on the right of all nations to use peaceful nuclear energy.

The statement stressed that all nations should respect Nuclear
Non-proliferation Treaty and the international rules and regulations
on prohibition of spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Iran and Armenia singed five letters of understanding during the
official visit of Iranian delegation led by President Ahmadinejad to
Yerevan on Friday.

Tehran and Yerevan MoUs cover various fields of cooperation including
the construction of hydroelectric power plants on Aras dam, cooperation
between the Institute for Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and
the Armenian National Institute for Standards as well as cooperation
in the fields of social welfare, employment and environment protection.

President Ahmadinejad and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on Friday
held first round of talks on major topics concerning bilateral,
regional, and international issues.

President Ahmadinejad’s visit to Armenia takes place upon an invitation
by Armenian President Sargsyan and in line with expansion of bilateral
ties between two countries.

Supply of oil products to Armenia and construction of railways are
among main topics of discussion during President Ahmadinejad’s one-day
visit to Yerevan.

Trade stood at dlrs 270 million in 2010 between the two countries. The
figure rose up to dlrs 300 million in 2011.

Over the past 20 years, energy sector has played an important role
in Iran-Armenia trade relations.

Relations between Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran remain
extremely cordial and both Armenia and Iran are strategic partners
in the region. Armenia and Iran enjoy cultural and historical ties
that go back thousands of years. There are no border disputes between
the two countries and the Christian Armenian minority in Iran enjoys
official recognition.

In July, 2007, a memorandum was signed on the start of feasibility
studies on the ideas of building an Armenian-Iranian railway and a
Russian-owned oil refinery that would process Iranian crude.

The Armenian government is building a second, bigger highway leading
to the Iranian border in the hope of boosting trade with Iran.

The two countries have reached a preliminary agreement to make joint
TV serials. The joint venture would portray the social and cultural
life of Iran and Armenia and expand cinematic ties between the two
countries.

ARMENIAN PREMIER MEETS WITH IRANIAN PRESIDENT

Tert.am
23.12.11

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sagsyan held a meeting with Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is on an official visit to Armenia.

The Armenian premier welcomed the Iranian leader, saying his visit
is a unique opportunity for giving new impetus to bilateral relations.

Premier Tigran Sargsyan expressed his satisfaction with bilateral
relations, noting Armenia is honoring the bilateral agreements.

The sides discussed priorities of bilateral economic relations.

Specifically, the sides stressed the importance of developing
cooperation in agriculture, tourist, jewelry and pharmaceutical
industries.

Premier Tigran Sargsyan pointed out an increase in bilateral trade
the past three years, as well as potential for developing cooperation.

The Iranian president noted he does not see any impediments to the
development of bilateral relations. The sides pointed out the need for
instructing relevant agencies to take measures to develop bilateral
trade and economic ties.

NO OBSTACLES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND IRAN, AHMADINEJAD SAYS

armradio.am
23.12.2011 19:27

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President
of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“I welcome you in Armenia. Your visit is a good opportunity to give
new impetus to the development of bilateral relations,” PM Tigran
Sargsyan said.

During the meeting the interlocutors discussed the priorities of the
bilateral economic relations. In particular, reference was made to
the construction of hydroelectric plants on Araks river, the third
Armenia-Iran power line, storing of liquid fuel in Armenia and
construction of the Iran-Armenia railway.

The parties attached importance to the development of cooperation in
the fields of agriculture, tourism, jewelry and pharmaceutics.

Tigran Sargsyan underlined that the indices of the past three years
indicate to the growth in bilateral trade relations and there is a
great potential to deepen the cooperation.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he sees no restrictions in the development
of relations between Armenia and Iran.

RICHARD KIRAKOSIAN SAYS POVERTY RATE IN ARMENIA MUST WORRY THE AUTHORITIES

ARMENPRESS
DECEMBER 23, 201
YEREVAN

According to the official statistics the poverty rate in Armenia has
increased: more than 1 million people are considered poor, political
scientists Richard Kirakosian told news conference today, considering
this fact unacceptable for a state, urging to undertake serious steps
for overcoming it.

“More than half of Armenian children are living in poverty. It must
worry not only the authorities but our compatriots living in Diaspora
as well,” the political analyst said. In respect of improvement of
economic figures, Kirakosian said it is impeded by the tax evasion
by oligarchs which creates poor competition and investment situation.