Restraint and moderation, anyone?
22 May 2006
The new Anatolian
Nazlan Ertan
nazlanertan@thenewanatolian.com
Last week was a difficult one, both at home and abroad. On the international front, Turkey struggled with the Armenian genocide revisionism bill, which, if it had passed, would have made denial of the 1915 Armenian "genocide" a criminal offense in France.
On the domestic front, the tentative "national consensus," on the decline since November, suffered a serious setback at Kocatepe Mosque, where Cabinet members were booed as they attended the funeral of a Council of State judge assassinated by a gunman.
Armenian knot
When French Socialists wanted to introduce a new bill on the Armenian genocide allegations, officials and civil groups alike in Turkey were duly alarmed and got mobilized. Unlike the first such bill, passed in 2001, which had no practical effect as it was limited to a simple "recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide" by France, the new law would enable anyone who denied the allegations to be fined or imprisoned.
Given the highly organized nature of the Armenian lobby, the easy passage of the first bill and, finally, the Turkish incapacity to lobby effectively and moderately, there was very little doubt that the second law would pass and erupt into a full-fledged crisis between Turkey and France.
Then, both the Turkish government and civil groups did something that surprised us all. Keeping public threats and insults to a minimum (again something that contrasted deeply with the Turkish policy during the first bill), the Turks started a steady flow of "persuasion tours" to France, ranging from Parliament officials to government figures to university academics. French intellectuals were mobilized in the name of freedom of expression. And, of course, the economic stick was also shown to France.
The first signal that these efforts were going somewhere came when a commission of the French Parliament voted against the bill. A week later, France shelved the critical vote. In the very lively debate that the Turkish audience could watch live on news channel NTV, the speech of French Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy was a notable act of balance:
"France is a loyal friend of Armenia -- it was one of the first countries to recognize its independence and since then, supported the young republic with all its efforts. But France is also a friend of Turkey, to which it was an inspiration during the foundation of the republic. Since then, Turkey and France have enjoyed strong, consistent ties. In the face of his double friendship… France must continue to pursue a policy of peace and reconciliation."
Was the decision a partial victory? Perhaps. As pointed out, the law may always reappear on the agenda of the French National Assembly although certain French sources, more optimistic than their Turkish counterparts, think that the law, now buried, will not see the light of day again.
But that would also depend on whether or not Turkey takes necessary steps on its past and its relations with neighboring Armenia.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
The new Anatolian
Nazlan Ertan
nazlanertan@thenewanatolian.com
Last week was a difficult one, both at home and abroad. On the international front, Turkey struggled with the Armenian genocide revisionism bill, which, if it had passed, would have made denial of the 1915 Armenian "genocide" a criminal offense in France.
On the domestic front, the tentative "national consensus," on the decline since November, suffered a serious setback at Kocatepe Mosque, where Cabinet members were booed as they attended the funeral of a Council of State judge assassinated by a gunman.
Armenian knot
When French Socialists wanted to introduce a new bill on the Armenian genocide allegations, officials and civil groups alike in Turkey were duly alarmed and got mobilized. Unlike the first such bill, passed in 2001, which had no practical effect as it was limited to a simple "recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide" by France, the new law would enable anyone who denied the allegations to be fined or imprisoned.
Given the highly organized nature of the Armenian lobby, the easy passage of the first bill and, finally, the Turkish incapacity to lobby effectively and moderately, there was very little doubt that the second law would pass and erupt into a full-fledged crisis between Turkey and France.
Then, both the Turkish government and civil groups did something that surprised us all. Keeping public threats and insults to a minimum (again something that contrasted deeply with the Turkish policy during the first bill), the Turks started a steady flow of "persuasion tours" to France, ranging from Parliament officials to government figures to university academics. French intellectuals were mobilized in the name of freedom of expression. And, of course, the economic stick was also shown to France.
The first signal that these efforts were going somewhere came when a commission of the French Parliament voted against the bill. A week later, France shelved the critical vote. In the very lively debate that the Turkish audience could watch live on news channel NTV, the speech of French Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy was a notable act of balance:
"France is a loyal friend of Armenia -- it was one of the first countries to recognize its independence and since then, supported the young republic with all its efforts. But France is also a friend of Turkey, to which it was an inspiration during the foundation of the republic. Since then, Turkey and France have enjoyed strong, consistent ties. In the face of his double friendship… France must continue to pursue a policy of peace and reconciliation."
Was the decision a partial victory? Perhaps. As pointed out, the law may always reappear on the agenda of the French National Assembly although certain French sources, more optimistic than their Turkish counterparts, think that the law, now buried, will not see the light of day again.
But that would also depend on whether or not Turkey takes necessary steps on its past and its relations with neighboring Armenia.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 8:35 AM
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