Author: Kanayan Tamar

TURKEY’S ERDOGAN: FRENCH VOTE REVEALS GRAVITY OF HOSTILITY TOWARDS MUSLIMS

Today’s Zaman

Dec 23 2011
Turkey

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Thursday’s French
vote on a bill that criminalizes the denial of the 1915 mass killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide has clearly revealed the
gravity of hostility against Muslims in France and Europe.

“The vote in France, where there are nearly 5 million Muslims, clearly
showed that the extent of racism, discrimination and anti-Muslims
sentiments has reached dangerous levels,” Erdogan said on Friday
at a conference on “Change in Muslim Societies and Role of Women”
in Ä°stanbul.

Accusing French President Nicolas Sarkozy of “trying to win [April’s
presidential] elections over hostility towards Turks and Muslims,”
Erdogan said Thursday’s vote is meaningful in that the bill was
approved with only 55 lawmakers in attendance, out of 577 in total.

“Mr. Sarkozy cannot find genocide in the history of Turkey. Once he
looks into Turkish history, he cannot find anything other than Turks’
tolerance, help and compassion,” Erdogan said.

The Turkish prime minister also read excerpts from a 1526 letter sent
by Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent to French King Francis I
in response to the French king’s request for help after being captured
by the Spanish King Charles V during the Battle of Pavia. The Ottoman
sultan said in the letter he would help the French king.

Erdogan said he had earlier presented a copy of Suleyman’s letter to
Sarkozy. “I think he did not read it.”

Erdogan also accused Paris of committing “genocide” in Algeria,
a former colony. “France massacred an estimated 15 percent of the
Algerian population starting from 1945. This is genocide,” he said.

“They were mercilessly martyred,” he said, adding that Algerians were
burned in ovens.

Erdogan also said President Sarkozy’s father might have direct
knowledge about the French “massacres” in Algeria.

“If the French president, Mr. Sarkozy, doesn’t know about this genocide
he should go and ask his father, Paul Sarkozy.”

“His father served in the French Legion in Algeria in the 1940s. I
am sure he would have lots to tell his son about the French massacres
in Algeria,” the Turkish premier said.

French legislators passed a bill making it a crime to deny that the
mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago
constituted genocide despite Turkish opposition.

The bill drew strong criticism from Turkey, which denies the genocide
label and insists the 1915 massacres occurred during civil unrest as
the Ottoman Empire collapsed, with losses on both sides.

The French bill still needs Senate approval.

Opposition supports sanctions against France Meanwhile, Turkey’s main
opposition party has also pledged full support to the government
in its campaign against France. Republican People’s Party (CHP)
leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu said on Friday that his party sees the
issue as a “national problem” and will act in cooperation with the
government on this matter. “France should get rid of this shame,”
he said referring to the bill.

He said he voiced his support on measures against France during a
visit he paid to Erdogan on Wednesday.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : UN PEU ELECTORALISTE DE S’EN OCCUPER MAINTENANT
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 22 decembre 2011

Faire “maintenant” la proposition de loi condamnant la negation
du genocide armenien relève de “la volonte personnelle” de Nicolas
Sarkozy, a juge mercredi Pierre Moscovici (PS), directeur de campagne
de Francois Hollande, Bruno Le Roux evoquant “un peu d’electoralisme”.

“Le groupe socialiste fera son devoir et votera le texte. En meme
temps, c’est la responsabilite de l’UMP, du gouvernement et la volonte
personnelle de Nicolas Sarkozy que de le faire maintenant”, a-t-il
souligne dans les couloirs de l’Assemblee.

Affirmant que “chacun sait que cette decision a ete prise a l’Elysee
par Nicolas Sarkozy, prise, paraît-il, de surcroît contre Francois
Fillon et Alain Juppe”, M. Moscovici a juge que le chef de l’Etat
“doit assumer totalement cette position”.

Les socialistes, a poursuivi le depute du Doubs, sont “très clairs” et
ont “une position constante : la reconnaissance du genocide armenien”
mais sont aussi “partisans de l’amitie avec la Turquie, qui a ete
tenue en hostilite par Nicolas Sarkozy”.

De son côte, Bruno Le Roux, l’un des quatre porte-parole de Francois
Hollande, a note que le PS avait “aux moments qui n’etaient pas des
echeances electorales fait voter d’abord la reconnaissance du genocide
de 1915, ensuite la penalisation” et voterait la proposition de loi
“parce qu’elle vise a terminer la sequence de reconnaissance du
genocide armenien”.

“C’est vrai que Nicolas Sarkozy avait pris des engagements il
y a maintenant quatre ans, avant sa campagne electorale, et des
engagements qu’une fois de plus il n’a pas tenus. Alors il essaye
une seance de rattrapage de dernière minute, en passant une nouvelle
fois en force. On a la l’illustration de la methode du president de
la Republique : je ne tiens pas mes engagements, et, a la dernière
minute, j’essaye de faire un peu d’electoralisme pour voir si les
choses peuvent se regler comme ca”, a-t-il fustige.

L’EDITO DE CATHERINE NEY SUR EUROPE 1
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
jeudi 22 decembre 2011

Ce matin dans son editorial (Europe 1), Catherine Ney est revenue sur
la proposition de loi, examinee ce jour a l’Assemblee nationale, par
la depute Valerie Boyer, visant a penaliser la negation de tous les
genocides reconnus par la France, dont celui des armeniens. Bernard
Debre s’est quant a lui dit contre la proposition, meme s’il ne revient
pas sur la realite du genocide des Armeniens. Pour Robert Badinter,
comprenant “la douleur des armeniens”, celui-ci trouve que ce n’est
pas la place du Parlement de legiferer sur la question.

Francois Bayrou s’est egalement exprime. Pour lui cette initiative
n’est “pas raisonnable”. Ce n’est pas a la loi de dire l’histoire a
la place des historiens.”

Sur RMC, Jean-Jacques Bourdin, a interviewe, en direct d’Istanbul le
directeur d’un etablissement scolaire, auteur, avec ses collègues de
Turquie, d’un texte s’opposant a la proposition de loi. Sur la station,
Frederique Mitterrand a dit “Je ne suis pas très chaud pour les lois
memorielles”. Le genocide est un spectre qui hante l’Europe.

Il rappelle la phrase d’Hitler. La Catastrophe armenienne nous
interpelle a juste titre. Il termine en expliquant en substance qu’il
est necessaire de faire face a son histoire pour un pays qui aspire
a entrer dans l’Union europeenne.

Dès 8h du matin des centaines de manifestants d’origine turque
manifestaient devant l’Assemblee nationale, brandissant des drapeaux
turcs et francais, aux cris de “l’Histoire ne doit pas servir la
politique”.

EN DIRECT DE L’ASSEMBLEE NATIONALE PAR L’ENVOYEE SPECIALE DES NAM
Stephane

armenews.com
jeudi 22 decembre 2011

L’hemicycle est presque vide. C’est Valerie Boyer qui a ouvert la
seance en rappelant les actes negationnistes dont les Armeniens sont
victimes depuis des annees. Elle a ensuite dit qu’il ne s’agissait pas
d’une loi memorielle mais d’une loi de coordination. Patrick Ollier,
ministre des relations avec le parlement, lui a succede pour expliquer
pourquoi le gouvernement presentait la loi.

Puis, Francois Rochebloine dans une intervention de dix minutes
a explique qu’il s’agissait d’une revendication legitime face au
negationnisme systematique de leur histoire. Il rappelle que les
historiens ont dit depuis longtemps qu’il s’agissait d’un genocide
et demande a la Turquie de le reconnaitre. La loi n’est pas ici
pour penaliser la liberte de recherche des universitaires. Elle doit
etre votee car il s’agit de reprimer une atteinte a l’ordre public
democratique ce qui n’est pas possible aujourd’hui. Il conclut en
disant qu’aucune pression ne le ferait flechir et qu’il votera avec
determination la loi.

Puis c’est le communiste Jean-Paul Lecocq qui prend la parole. il
dit que seule la shaoah pour l’instant etait reprimee, or bien que
la France ait reconnu le genocide armenien rien aujourd’hui ne permet
d’en reprimer sa contestation ou sa minimisation. Cette loi concerne
aujourd’hgui les Armeniens, elle pourra demain etre utilisee pour
d’autres genocides.

ambiance

9 h 15 devant le metro assemblee nationale. De jeunes militants turcs,
un drapeau turc autour du cou, distribuent des tracts. A quelques pas
de la, des dizaines de CRS sont postees dans les rues adjacentes. On
sent la temperature monter. Une delegation de Marseilles, avec Didier
Parakian a sa tete marche d’un pas presse vers l’assemblee. Ils ont
l’air assez joyeux.

NEGAR EL GENOCIDIO ARMENIO SERJ TAN GRAVE EN FRANCIA COMO NEGAR EL HOLOCAUSTO

ABC.es

17 dic 2011

La ley impulsada por Sarkozy establece fuertes multas y hasta un año
de carcel para los culpables de “negacionismo”

El partido de Sarkozy ha presentado en la Asamblea francesa un proyecto
de ley que convertira en delito la negacion del genocidio del pueblo
armenio, llevada a cabo por el regimen turco durante los años de la
Primera Guerra Mundial. Según los historiadores, alrededor de un millon
y medio de armenios que vivían en el imperio otomano fueron víctimas de
un plan sistematico de exterminio, siempre negado por el Estado turco.

El proyecto de ley contra el negacionismo armenio sera debatido en
el Parlamento frances el proximo jueves, y pocos dudan de que sera
aprobado. La nueva norma establece hasta un año de prision y multas de
45.000 euros para quienes nieguen que la matanza de armenios a partir
de 1915 no fue un genocidio. Se pone así a la par de la negacion del
holocausto judío durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, penada en Francia
desde 1990.

Retirar su embajador en París Durante una rueda de Prensa en Ankara,
el primer ministro turco, Tayyip Erdogan, critico la ley impulsada
por el gobierno de Sarkozy, y pidio a Francia que “se limite a revisar
su pasado de masacres en Argelia y Ruanda”.

París es una de las capitales mas firmes en la oposicion a que Turquía
entre en la Union Europea por su “deficit democratico”, que no ha
mejorado con el gobierno islamistade Erdogan. Ademas de la oposicion
de Ankara a reconocer el genocidio armenio -la tesis oficial insiste
tozudamente en que los armenios murieron en el contexto de “una guerra
civil” y no por un plan premeditado de exterminio-, Francia subraya la
represion por parte del regimen turco de otras minorías como la kurda.

Fuentes del gobierno turco han advertido que Ankara podría retirar a
su embajador en París si la ley del negacionismo armenio es finalmente
aprobada.

TURKEY CONDEMNS APPROVAL OF GENOCIDE BILL BY FRENCH PARLIAMENT

Today’s Zaman
Dec 22 2011
Turkey

Turkey has strongly condemned the approval of a bill that criminalise
the denial of genocide, including the 1915 mass killing of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks.

Lawmakers in France’s National Assembly – the lower house of parliament
– voted overwhelmingly in favour of a draft law outlawing genocide
denial, which will be debated next year in the Senate.

“The initiative defames Turkish history on the basis of one-sided
interpretations and aims to deprive us from our right to defend
ourselves against this injustice,” a statement released by
Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday said. It is also unjust, the
statement continued, inappropriate and contradicts relevant rules of
international law.

The statement added that it is extremely unfortunate that such a
serious issue is abused for electoral purposes in spite of all the
demarches, friendly and constructive warnings conveyed to France,
as well as promises previously received.

France passed a law recognizing the killing of Armenians as genocide
in 2001. The French lower house first passed a bill criminalizing
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.

It said the introduction of criminal sanctions to the 2001 law
paved the way for even more negative consequences, adding that such
parliamentary acts were problematic not only politically but also
legally and morally.

“This bill constitutes a grave example of politicization of history
on account of narrow political calculations and stifling of freedom
of expression by a democratic institution. France has thus preferred
to ignore the universal values which it had a share in developing,”
the statement said.

The statement stressed that the bill restricts freedom of expression
of all scholars and researchers looking at historical events from
different perspectives, adding that it contradicts the international
law, European norms, the reports of the French Parliament itself
and the earlier official declarations of the French government on
the issue.

FRENCH LOWER HOUSE APPROVES ARMENIA BILL

Dec 22 2011
Turkey

The bill is expected to put France on a collision course with Turkey,
a strategic ally and trading partner.

The lower house of the French parliament voted on Thursday in favor
of a bill on Armenian allegations on 1915 incidents, ignoring massive
Turkish protests against the measure.

The bill is expected to put France on a collision course with Turkey,
a strategic ally and trading partner.

Turkey says the conflict occurred nearly 100 years ago should be left
to historians.

The bill sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine
of 45,000 euros ($59,000) for those who have different views on
the incidents.

About 50 lawmakers were present during the debates on the bill.

The majority of the lawmakers, including Patrick Ollier, the government
minister in charge of relations with parliament who addressed the
session on behalf of the government, opposed an amendment proposal
which said academic and scientific studies on history should be exempt
from punishment set by the bill. The amendment proposal was eventually
withdrawn by the lawmaker who presented it.

The measure now needs to be passed in the senate, the upper house of
parliament, to go into effect.

Turkey, which vehemently rejects the term “genocide,” has campaigned
to get France to abandon the legislation, threatening to withdraw
its ambassador and warning of “grave consequences” to economic and
political ties.

“Laws voted in this chamber cannot be dictated by Ankara,” said
Jean-Christophe Lagarde, a deputy from the New Center party, as Turks
demonstrated outside the National Assembly ahead of the vote.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government backed the measure
despite warnings of Turkey.

PATRICK DEVEDJIAN: TURKEY RECOGNIZED GENOCIDE BACK IN 1919

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 22, 2011 – 15:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP)
French party said the Armenian Genocide recognition is irrevesrible.

As Patrick Devedjian stated during the debate on a bill panalyzing
Genocide denial at French parliament, “by denying the Genocide,
Turkey denies its past. The truth behind the Armenian Genocide must
not be questioned, but rather, supported by a political step.”

“I’m sure both left- and right-wing parliamentarians are determined
to vote for the victory of justice,” the policitican said.

As Devedjian reminded, in 1919 Turkey had already recongized the
Armenian Genocide.

Today, December 22, the French parliament is debating the bill,
which envisages a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros for those
who publicly deny the Armenian Genocide in France.

FRENCH PARLIAMENT DEBATES ARMENIAN “GENOCIDE BILL”

Monsters and Critics.com

Dec 22 2011

Paris – Thousands of people demonstrated outside France’s National
Assembly on Thursday, as parliamentarians prepared to vote on a bill
that would make it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered a genocide
at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

The demonstrators, mostly French people of Turkish origin, waved
Turkish and French flags and placards denouncing the bill. The police
estimated their numbers at around 4,000.

‘History must not serve politics,’ one placard read.

‘Fishing for votes must not be done at the expense of a country’s
history,’ another one read.

The controversial bill proposes to punish people who deny or minimize
genocides with a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (59,000
dollars).

France recognizes two events as genocides: the Nazi Holocaust of Jews
during World War II and the mass killings of Armenians in eastern
Turkey during World War I.

A separate law already criminalizes Holocaust denial.

In Turkey, the bill is seen as an attempt by President Nicolas
Sarkozy’s party to curry favour with a small but influential Armenian
diaspora ahead of next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

‘It’s not because a powerful lobby says it (genocide) that I will
say it,’ Halil Karayel, who lives in the eastern city of Strasbourg,
told dpa.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million Armenian citizens of the Ottoman
Empire were either killed or died of neglect on deportation marches
to the Syrian desert in 1915-18. Before becoming president in 2007,
Sarkozy had promised to push through legislation on genocide denial.

Turkey rejects the genocide tag. Ankara says some 300,000 Armenians
died, and argues that it was largely the result of unrest during
the war following the invasion by Russian forces of eastern Turkey,
where most Armenians lived.

The bill, which was proposed by a member of the ruling Union for a
Popular Movement, enjoys the backing of most French lawmakers.

Some members of the UMP have opposed the bill, however.

UMP deputy Michel Diefenbacher told the assembly, which was only
about one-third full for the vote, that he opposed any attempt by
France to impose its reading of history on another sovereign state.

Once approved by assembly members, the bill will go to the Senate.

Thursday’s debate was broadcast live in Turkey, where the government
has already warned of ‘grave’ consequences for Franco-Turkish relations
if the assembly approves the bill.

A delegation of Turkish parliamentarians travelled to Paris this week
to lobby against the vote but failed to convince the government to
call it off.

The standoff is the latest to rock Franco-Turkish relations, which
have already soured over Sarkozy’s resolute opposition to Turkey
joining the European Union.

French European Affairs Minister Jean Leonetti has downplayed the
possible fallout with Turkey, telling France Inter Radio that its
threatened reprisals were ’empty threats.’

FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL CRIMINALIZATION BILL

Tert.am
22.12.11

The bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide has received
the the French National Assembly’s approval.

Under the legal act proposed by lawmaker Valerie Voyer, anyone on
the territory of France denying the fact of the Armenian massacres
in the Ottoman Empire in the WWI period will face one year in prison
and a fine of 45,000 Euros.

A similar bill adopted by the National Assembly on October 16, 2006
was never approved by the Senate. In May, 2011, the upper chamber of
the French parliament rejected the proposal by a vote of 74 in favor
and 196 against.

Ankara has numerously slammed France over the bill, saying that its
passage would have irrevocable consequences on the French-Turkish
relations. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said
the initiative is against the Turkish state, Turkish nation and the
Turkish community of France. In a letter to French President Nicolas
Sarkozy, the Erdogan said the adoption of the bill would neghatively
affect the political, economic and cultural relations between the
two countries.