Turkey: French ties dealt blow over Armenian genocide bill
By News Agencies
Ha’aretz, English Edition,
12/10/2006
Armenians in the Old City of Jerusalem, many of them descendants of people
who fled during World War I, on Thursday welcomed passage of a law by the
lower house of the French legislature making it a crime to deny that the
mass killing then was genocide.
"They have recognized it," said Caroline Jansezian, owner of an Armenian
gift shop in the Old City. "It’s come the time that somebody cares about it."
An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed from 1915-1919. Turkey
maintains the deaths occurred during civil unrest, disputes the numbers and
rejects the genocide label.
Armenians in Jerusalem hoped that would change. "Little by little, more and
more people are becoming aware of it, and accepting it, and one day Turkey
will accept it," said Vic Lepejian, an artist working in a small ceramic shop.
The French law must be passed by the senate and signed by President Jacques
Chirac before it would take effect.
About 6,000 Armenians live in Israel and the West Bank, according to a
community leader, 2,500 of them in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of
Jerusalem. There, maps documenting the tragedy are posted on the walls and
pamphlets are passed out to visitors.
"I think recognition is a consolation, but nothing will compensate for the
sense of loss, at least for this generation," said George Hintlian of the
Convent of St. James, a key Armenian holy site Jerusalem. Hintlian’s
grandfather and uncle were killed during the violence.
Hintlian said Armenians here have a special link with their tragic past.
"Our sense of genocide is more focused or sharper because we live next to
the Jewish people who went through their own Holocaust," he said. "The
Holocaust culture is very much alive here. And the sadness that accompanies
it." Six million Jews were murdered by German Nazis and their collaborators
during World War II.
Every April 24, the day Armenians around the world commemorate the
genocide, there is a solemn procession around walls of the Old City of
Jerusalem.
Turkey: French ties dealt blow over Armenian genocide bill
A French parliamentary vote supporting a bill on the alleged genocide of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks has dealt Turkish-French ties a severe
blow, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"French-Turkish relations, which have developed over centuries… have been
dealt a blow today as a result of the irresponsible false claims of French
politicians who do not see the political consequences of their actions,"
the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry did not say whether Turkey, which is seeking European Union
membership, would take any retaliatory measures against France, a founder
member of the EU.
Turkish Economics Minister Ali Babacan did say, however, that he could not
rule out consequences for French businesses.
"Time will show. But I cannot say it will not have any consequences,"
Babacan, who is also Ankara’s chief negotiator in accession talks with the
EU, told reporters in Brussels.
Asked about the threat of a boycott to French goods after the French lower
house of parliament overwhelmingly backed the bill, he replied: "As the
government of Turkey, we are not encouraging something like that. But this
is the people’s decision."
The French government said in response that as it valued its relations with
Turkey, it did not believe the bill, which would make it a crime to deny
that the World War I-era killings of Armenians in Turkey, was genocide to
be necessary.
The bill, which was introduced by the opposition Socialists, must still be
passed by the Senate and be signed by President Jacques Chirac. France’s
minister for European affairs, Catherine Colonna, said just before the vote
that the government did not look favorably on the bill.
"It is not for the law to write history," she said in parliament.
France has already recognized the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians
from 1915 to 1919 as genocide; under Thursday’s bill, those who contest it
was genocide would risk up to a year in prison and fines of up to $56,000.
Deputies in the National Assembly voted 106-19 for the bill, an issue has
become intertwined with Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union.
The European Commission said Thursday that French bill would hamper
reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.
"Turkey has been called on many times … to achieve reconciliation on that
matter, and to conduct an open dialogue with its neighbor Armenia," said EU
spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy.
She added that EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn "has made very clear
over the last few days that if this law indeed enters into force it would
prevent dialogue and the necessary debate to reconcile the different
opinions on this subject."
A similar bill was shelved in the spring amid pressure from Ankara. It was
presented by the opposition Socialists, and most lawmakers from Chirac’s
ruling conservative party UMP did not take part in Thursday’s vote.
Turkey supporters abruptly left the parliament building after the vote
without speaking to reporters. Outside, a few dozen protesters of Armenian
descent celebrated.
"The memory of the victims is finally totally respected," said Alexis
Govciyan, head of a group coordinating Armenian organizations in France.
"The dignity of all their descendants and all of our compatriots will now
be taken into account in a republican way, with the rules and values that
govern our country."
Chirac, during a visit to Armenia last month, said the bill "is more of a
polemic than of legal reality" but he also urged Turkey to recognize "the
genocide of Armenians" in order to join the European Union.
"Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and errors of the past,"
Chirac said.
Jean-Marc Ayrault, the Socialist leader in the Assembly, said Tuesday that
the bill should not be seen as an act of "aggression against the Turkish
state and the Turkish nation."