Author: nina hovnanian

THE FRENCH STEP TO BE SUPPORTED BY EUROPE AND COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD: FOREIGN MINISTER OF ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
JANUARY 25, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Bill passed by the
French Senate is a mechanism for promoting crimes against humanity,
Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan told a January 25 press
conference in Latvia, Armenpress reports citing FrancePress.

“That important step by France is not only laudable, but will
also get support from Europe and countries all over the world,”
Mr. Nalbandyan stated, stressing that first of all it is necessary
to turn that common page with Turkey, and not by means of denial,
but by recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

“We truly hope that a day will come when Turkey will recognize the
Armenian Genocide,” he said. For his part, Foreign Minister of Latvia
Edgars Rinkevich said there are similarities between the difficult
histories of Armenia and Latvia and they “understand the grief of
the Armenian nation in the given issue”.

“If even it is very difficult, it is better to organize discussion
of the common past than to politicize the issue,” he added.

To remind, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan is in Latvia
and Lithuania January 25 and 26.

PM RECEIVES ROSSELKHOZBANK BOARD PRESIDENT DMITRY PATRUSHEV-LED DELEGATION

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received today a delegation led by
Rosselkhozbank Board President Dmitry Patrushev.

Welcoming the guests, the Prime Minister stated, “Agriculture is a
priority to us, and we are trying to find new tools and opportunities
to promote its development.”

Tigran Sargsyan expressed hope that by cooperating and exchanging
know-how with Rosselkhozbank his government may identify new ways of
developing this sector in our country.

Dmitry Patrusheve advised that in its capacity of a financial leader
in Russia’s agro-industrial complex, the Bank is implementing targeted
programs in the public sector.

The parties went on to exchange views on Armenia’s farming sector
policies, programs, as well as on the activities of Russian banks.

As part of the meeting agenda, the interlocutors looked at the
possibility of implementing joint investment programs, founding
Rosselkhozbank’s local office and organizing the lease of Russian
agricultural machinery.

AZERBAIJAN DENOUNCES FRENCH APPROVAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAW

The Voice of Russia
Jan 24 2012

Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan on Tuesday denounced as anti-democratic the
French Senate’s approval of a law making it illegal to deny that the
mass killings of Armenians during World War I were genocide.

“The Republic of Azerbaijan deplores the law adopted by the French
Senate to criminalise the denial of the ‘Armenian genocide’ and
expresses strong protest over this,” the foreign ministry in Baku
said in a statement.

TURKEY VOWS TO RETALIATE AGAINST FRENCH GENOCIDE LAW

NASDAQ

Jan 24 2012

ISTANBUL -(Dow Jones)- Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Tuesday denounced French lawmakers as racist and vowed to retaliate
after they approved a bill making it a crime to deny that the 1915
massacre of Armenians constituted genocide.

With relations between Ankara and Paris already strained, his comments
raise the prospect of a serious rift between two North Atlantic Treaty
Organization allies.

Addressing lawmakers of his governing AK party in Ankara, Erdogan
did not say what the government’s reprisals would be, but the local
press cited several options. Ankara could permanently recall its
ambassador, stop French companies bidding for government contracts
and close Turkish waters and airspace to French ships and planes.

“This is a racist decision. This is killing freedom of thought. We
won’t let France gain credibility through this because their decision
means nothing to us” the prime minister said.

Referring to the measures as “sanctions,” he said they would be
disclosed ” step by step.”

“We will share our action plan based on developments,” he said.

The French Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill late Monday. It
still requires President Nicolas Sarkozy’s signature to become law.

EU-candidate country Turkey can’t take economic action against France
without risking a violation of its membership in the World Trade
Organization and its customs-union agreement with Europe. But the
dispute could cost France profitable bilateral business contracts
and would fuel diplomatic tension as Turkey takes an increasingly
influential role in the Middle East.

Immediately after the bill was passed, Turkey’s foreign ministry
accused France of flouting international law and pledged to “take
every step” to counter the “irresponsible” decision. “In case of
the completion of the finalization process for the law, we will not
hesitate to implement, as we deem appropriate, the measures that we
have considered in advance,” the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Under the legislation, anyone who denies genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes recognized by French law could face up to a
year in prison and a EUR45,000($58,143) fine.

The bill does not specifically refer to the estimated 1.5 million
Armenians killed under the Ottoman Turks, but France recognizes only
those deaths and the Holocaust as genocides. Denying the Holocaust
was already illegal in France.

Ankara reacted furiously when the lower house passed the bill last
month, withdrawing its ambassador from Paris and freezing political
and military relations.

Armenia praised the move, stressing that the day would “be written
in gold in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French
peoples, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of
human rights worldwide.”

About 500,000 French citizens claim Armenian descent, the largest
such population in Europe.

-By Joe Parkinson, Dow Jones Newswires

FRANCE: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL A CRIME, STORM WITH ANKARA

ANSA med

Jan 24 2012
Italy

(ANSAmed) – PARIS, JANUARY 24 – Relations between Paris and Ankara are
in deep crisis after the French parliament definitively adopted the law
bill criminalising the denial of the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917,
which France recognised in 2001. With the bill passed by France’s
National Assembly on December 22, the Senate last night adopted the
law bill after around 8 hours of debate, with 127 votes in favour and
86 against, invoking the wrath of Ankara and potentially shattering
relations between the two countries. “Our society must fight against
negationist poison”, said the Minister for Relations with Parliament,
Patrick Ollier, opening debate in the Senate. Outside the debating
chamber, meanwhile, hundreds of protesters, linked to Franco-Armenian
and Franco-Turkish associations, were demanded that the law be adopted
and boycotted respectively.

The law is backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, the majority of his
UMP party and the Socialist Party, though there are dissenters in
both parties, with some calling the bill unconstitutional, arguing
that legislators cannot take the place of historians. A year in
prison and a fine of 45,000 euros are the penalties for those who
deny the tragic episode of Ottoman history, when Armenians say that
1.5 million people died.

The bill had previously been passed by the National Assembly on
December 22, causing a first wave of diplomatic reprisals by Ankara.

Last night, reacting to the breaking news on Turkish CNN, the
country’s Justice Minister, Sadullah Ergin, called it “a great
injustice”. “France has shown a complete lack of respect towards
Turkey,” he said. Early in the morning, the Turkish Prime Minister,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had followed live television coverage
from the French senate until the passing of the motion, dismissed
the law as electoral posturing, with only 90 days until the French
presidential elections, saying that he may decide never again to travel
to France. The launch of the law sees “the start of a new era in the
inquisition” and is “shameful for France,” according to the Turkish
Foreign Minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, who predicted the burning of books
and “a great threat” for “European values” such as freedom of opinion,
particularly with regards to disputed episodes in history.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Bulent Arinc, said that an appeal could be
made to the European Court of Human Rights. The Turkish television
network TRT, meanwhile, has threatened to suspend its participation
in Euronews, the all-news network based in Lyon in which it has a
15.5% stake.

Turkey refuses to accept the term “genocide” but recognises the
massacre of 500,000 Armenians during the First World War, and has
spent weeks attempting to convince Paris to backtrack.

The initial approval by the National Assembly led the Turks to recall
their ambassador to France for a few weeks. Above all, however, as a
fully-fledged member of NATO, Turkey also took the decision to freeze
military and political cooperation with Paris. Erdogan’s government
could now go even further, pulling out its representative in Paris
once and for all and carrying out reprisals in both the economic
and commercial sectors. The volume of bilateral exchange reached 12
billion euros in 2012 and several hundred French companies operate in
Turkey. The Ankara authorities accuse Sarkozy of wanting to ensure the
vote of the French Armenian community (which numbers around 600,000
people) with only 90 days until the presidential elections. Relations
between France and Turkey began to deteriorate in 2007, after the
arrival of Sarkozy, who has always been hostile to Turkey’s entry
into the European Union.(ANSAmed).

FRENCH SENATE PASSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL; TURKEY OUTRAGED

Voice of America
Jan 23 2012

The French Senate has passed a bill making it a crime to deny that the
mass killings of Armenians by Turks nearly 100 years ago were genocide.

France’s lower house of parliament passed the bill last month, and
President Nicholas Sarkozy is likely to sign it into law.

It says anyone who says killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks is
not genocide faces a $60,000 fine and up to one year in jail.

Turkey calls the French Senate decision a great injustice and says it
shows a lack of respect for Turkey. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian says the day will be written in gold in the history of
the protection of human rights.

Turkey had warned of what it said would be permanent sanctions if
the Senate passed the bill.

Turkey recalled its ambassador to France when the lower house passed
it. Turkey also banned the French navy from using its territorial
waters and restricted French military jets using its airspace.

The French foreign ministry called on Turkey not to overreact. It
says France considers Turkey a “very important ally.”

Armenia says troops of Turkey’s Ottoman empire killed 1.5 million
Armenians during World War I, constituting a genocide. Turkey says
the Armenians were killed along with many others because of civil
war. It also says the number of Armenian deaths has been exaggerated.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused France of
committing genocide in Algeria more than 60 years ago. He said French
colonialists massacred 15 percent of Algeria’s population starting
in 1945. He also accused Mr. Sarkozy of pandering to the hundreds
of thousands of French citizens of Armenian descent heading into his
re-election bid this year.

TURKEY CONDEMNS PASSAGE OF ARMENIA GENOCIDE BILL IN FRANCE

AsiaOne

Jan 24 2012
Singapore

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey strongly on Monday condemned the French
Senate’s passage of a bill outlawing denial of the Armenian genocide,
slamming it as irresponsible and disrespectful while vowing to take
retaliatory steps.

“We strongly condemn this decision which is… an example of
irresponsiblity,” the foreign ministry said in a written statement,
adding that the government would not hesitate to swiftly implement
retaliatory measures.

The French senators on Monday approved the contentious bill that
criminalises any denial of the Armenian genocide, despite vows from
a furious Turkey that it would punish Paris with “permanent” sanctions.

When France’s lower house passed the bill last month, Ankara froze
political and military ties with Paris and promised further measures
if the bill was passed by the Senate.

The bill must now be signed by President Nicolas Sarkozy – whose
right-wing UMP party put forward the measure – for it to become law.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to publicise Ankara’s
possible retaliatory measures against Paris during an address to his
fellow deputies in parliament on Tuesday.

“The decision made by the Senate is a great injustice and shows total
lack of respect for Turkey,” Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin told the
CNN-Turk television in immediate reaction after the French Senate vote.

Turkey maintains the 1915 killings of Armenians during the Ottoman
Empire did not amount to genocide.

“France opened a black page in its history,” said Volkan Bozkir,
the head of the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee,
in a Twitter message.

The foreign ministry statement said bilateral relations between the
two NATO allies were the victim of political concerns, an apparent
reference to the upcoming presidential election in France.

“This is profoundly an unfortunate step,” it said.

“Politicising the understanding of justice and history through other
people’s past and damaging freedom of expression in a tactless manner
are first and foremost a loss for France.”

France has already recognised the killings as a genocide, but the
new bill would go further, by punishing anyone who denies this with
a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (S$72,618).

GENOCIDE BILL ANGERS TURKS AS IT PASSES IN FRANCE
By SCOTT SAYARE and SEBNEM ARSU

New York Times

Jan 24 2012

PARIS – Relations between France and Turkey dipped to a nadir as the
French Senate approved a bill late Monday criminalizing the denial
of officially recognized genocides, including the Armenian genocide
begun in 1915.

Turkey’s prime minister, anticipating the bill’s passage, called
the move “incomprehensible” and pledged to “take steps.” Turkey has
already suspended military cooperation, bilateral political agreement
and economic contracts with France over the bill, and on Monday raised
the possibility of withdrawing support for Euronews, an international
news network based in France, in which Turkey’s national radio and
television network holds a 15.5 percent stake.

After lengthy debate, the Senate voted 127 to 86 in favor of the
legislation, while hundreds of Turks and Armenians demonstrated
outside. If signed into law by President Nicolas Sarkozy, the
legislation would call for up to one year in prison and a fine of
about $58,000 for those who deny an officially recognized genocide.

The bill does not make specific reference to the estimated 1.5
million Armenians slaughtered under the Ottoman Turks, but France
recognizes only those deaths and the Holocaust as genocides and
already specifically bans Holocaust denial.

In Turkey, the public affirmation of the Armenian genocide is treated
as a crime, on the premise that it is an insult to Turkish identity.

In March, the writer Orhan Pamuk was fined about $3,670 by a Turkish
court for his statement in a Swiss newspaper that Turkey had killed
“30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians.”

Turkey contends that Armenians were not the victims of systematic
killings and argues that no more than 500,000 Armenians died, noting
that many Turks also perished during those years of war. Thousands
of Turks protested the bill in a demonstration in Paris on Saturday.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, warned of “permanent
sanctions” if the bill passed, calling it a “black stain” on France.

On Monday he told reporters in the Turkish capital, Ankara, “If each
parliament takes decisions containing its own views of history and
implements them, a new era of Inquisition will be opened in Europe.”

While the legislation was widely backed by lawmakers from Mr.

Sarkozy’s party as well as the opposition, a number of French
politicians charged that the government ought not seek to dictate
history. Some members of the opposition have also accused Mr.

Sarkozy’s party of pandering to a sizable Armenian population ahead
of the presidential election this spring.

About 500,000 French citizens claim Armenian descent, the largest
such population in Europe; many have applauded the legislation. But
those who claim Turkish descent number 400,000, and many have been
up in arms.

The bill, brought by a lawmaker from Mr. Sarkozy’s party, has placed
the government in a delicate position at a moment when France hopes
to maintain Turkish cooperation on pressing matters, including the
crackdown in Syria and Iran’s nuclear program, and to keep open
relations as allies within NATO. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and
Bruno Lemaire, the agriculture minister, opposed the legislation.

In a letter to Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Sarkozy noted the legislation does
not name the Armenian genocide and hoped for “reason and dialogue”
with Turkey.

While Turkey has drawn Western praise as a model of Muslim democracy,
particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring, Turkish human rights
advocates worry that the government has increasingly sought to repress
freedom of speech and the press, jailing dozens of journalists,
publishers and distributers, and buying and selling media properties.

Armenian advocacy groups around the globe push regularly for official
recognition of the genocide. Nineteen nations, including France,
have granted that recognition, as has the European Union. Slovenia
and Switzerland treat denial of the genocide as a crime.

Scott Sayare reported from Paris, and Sebnem Arsu from Marseille,
France.

EXPRESSES GRATITUDE TO JEAN-PIERRE BEL

January 24, 2012

On January 24, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Samvel Nikoyan sent a letter to Chairman of the Senate of
the Republic of France Jean-Pierre Bel on the Senate’s adoption of
the bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial.

“Distinguished Mr. President,

By adopting the bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial on January
23, the French Senate showed once again its loyalty to universal
values, that it is the homeland of human rights and established
through legislation that the crimes against humanity don’t have an
expiration date and that only through condemnation is it possible to
prevent new crimes against humanity.

Distinguished Mr. President, allow us to express our words of gratitude
on behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia to the
members of the French Senate, those who fight against such terrifying
crime against humanity, those who consider the denial of genocides
inacceptable, those who place importance on justice and universal
values and finally, to those who strive for peace in our region,
the elimination of separating lines and the reconciliation between
peoples.”

TURKISH POLICE WAS AWARE OF HRANT DINK MURDER – PARLIAMENT REPORT

news.am
January 25, 2012 | 00:20

ANKARA. – Sub-committee on Hrant Dink murder case, set up in 2008
in the human rights’ committee at the Turkish Parliament submitted
report on the case.

The sub-committee described the process as dangerous events leading
to Dink’s murder. There were taken no preventive measures, as a result
Dink was murdered, the report reads, Turkish Posta reports.

“Both police and gendarmerie were well-aware of the organized murder.

However, it was not investigated and preventive measures were not
taken,” the report states noting steps which could prevent later
suchlike crimes.

To note, Agos newspaper former editor Hrant Dink was murdered on Jan.

19, 2007, in Istanbul by Ogun Samast, who was sentenced for 22 years
in jail. Whereas, Yasin Hayal was sentenced for life imprisonment
for organizing and prompting the murder.