Chirac pokes finger in Turkey's eye on Armenia 'genocide'
02-10-2006
The Muslim News
By Andrew Rettman
EUObserver:
French president Jacques Chirac paid no heed to Turkish sensitivities on his first-ever visit to Armenia this weekend, calling on Turkey to own up to "genocide" before joining the EU and comparing the killings to Nazi Germany's holocaust.
"Should Turkey recognise the genocide of Armenia to join the EU?" Mr Chirac asked, AP reports. "I believe so. Each country grows by acknowledging the dramas and errors of its past...Can one say that Germany, which has deeply acknowledged the holocaust, has as a result lost credit? It has grown."
The French leader made the remarks in Yerevan on Saturday (30 September) at a wreath-laying ceremony beside the country's "Genocide Monument", before visiting the "Genocide Museum" and writing the solitary word "remember" in the visitors' book.
Armenia says Turkish forces slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917 but the Turkish government and Turkish history books claim that 300,000 Armenians and 300,000 Turks died in a 'civil war' in the region.
Fifteen countries, including France, Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, have previously classified the killings as "genocide" - defined by the UN as "harmful acts...committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."
In Turkey, any deviation from the official line can land novelists or university professors in jail under article 301 of the country's new penal code against "insulting Turkishness."
But there has been no official reaction to Mr Chirac's statements so far, despite mumblings by unnamed Turkish diplomats in the Turkish Daily News that they are "worried" about worsening bilateral relations.
Chirac goes further than EU
The French leader's remarks go further than Brussels' formal EU accession conditions, which require Ankara to boost democratic standards in areas such as free speech and to lift its blockade on Cypriot shipping - but do not mention the thorny Armenian question.
MEPs voting on a highly-critical report on Turkey's EU accession progress last week also opted to cut out a clause calling for recognition of the Armenian genocide for fear of stirring up a nationalist backlash in the EU's most controversial candidate state.
Armenia itself has so far shied away from confrontation on the subject, with president Robert Kocharian on Saturday saying merely "we would like that our interests be discussed" in the EU-Turkey accession talks.
The small, landlocked country of 3.6 million people is in a tricky position: it has closed borders with Turkey in the west; the prospect of a Russian-Georgian conflict in the north; escalating tensions with Azerbaijan in the east and borders with international pariah Iran in the south.
But France plans to keep on pressing the issue with a vote tabled in parliament on 12 October over a fresh resolution that Turkey must give the Armenian killings their proper name.
About 400,000 Armenian ex-pats live in France, with some - such as singer Charles Aznavour - rising to social prominence and with Paris promising to hold a referendum before it ratifies Turkish EU accession in the future.
http://euobserver.com/9/22543/?rk=1
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 Muslim News
By Andrew Rettman
EUObserver:
French president Jacques Chirac paid no heed to Turkish sensitivities on his first-ever visit to Armenia this weekend, calling on Turkey to own up to "genocide" before joining the EU and comparing the killings to Nazi Germany's holocaust.
"Should Turkey recognise the genocide of Armenia to join the EU?" Mr Chirac asked, AP reports. "I believe so. Each country grows by acknowledging the dramas and errors of its past...Can one say that Germany, which has deeply acknowledged the holocaust, has as a result lost credit? It has grown."
The French leader made the remarks in Yerevan on Saturday (30 September) at a wreath-laying ceremony beside the country's "Genocide Monument", before visiting the "Genocide Museum" and writing the solitary word "remember" in the visitors' book.
Armenia says Turkish forces slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917 but the Turkish government and Turkish history books claim that 300,000 Armenians and 300,000 Turks died in a 'civil war' in the region.
Fifteen countries, including France, Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, have previously classified the killings as "genocide" - defined by the UN as "harmful acts...committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."
In Turkey, any deviation from the official line can land novelists or university professors in jail under article 301 of the country's new penal code against "insulting Turkishness."
But there has been no official reaction to Mr Chirac's statements so far, despite mumblings by unnamed Turkish diplomats in the Turkish Daily News that they are "worried" about worsening bilateral relations.
Chirac goes further than EU
The French leader's remarks go further than Brussels' formal EU accession conditions, which require Ankara to boost democratic standards in areas such as free speech and to lift its blockade on Cypriot shipping - but do not mention the thorny Armenian question.
MEPs voting on a highly-critical report on Turkey's EU accession progress last week also opted to cut out a clause calling for recognition of the Armenian genocide for fear of stirring up a nationalist backlash in the EU's most controversial candidate state.
Armenia itself has so far shied away from confrontation on the subject, with president Robert Kocharian on Saturday saying merely "we would like that our interests be discussed" in the EU-Turkey accession talks.
The small, landlocked country of 3.6 million people is in a tricky position: it has closed borders with Turkey in the west; the prospect of a Russian-Georgian conflict in the north; escalating tensions with Azerbaijan in the east and borders with international pariah Iran in the south.
But France plans to keep on pressing the issue with a vote tabled in parliament on 12 October over a fresh resolution that Turkey must give the Armenian killings their proper name.
About 400,000 Armenian ex-pats live in France, with some - such as singer Charles Aznavour - rising to social prominence and with Paris promising to hold a referendum before it ratifies Turkish EU accession in the future.
http://euobserver.com/9/22543/?rk=1
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 12:36 PM
1 Comments:
Dear fellow Armenians,
As you read these lines the Armenians in the liberated region of Kashatagh (Lachin) desperately need our immediate help.
After the war in Nagorno-Karabakh came to an end, local officials in Armenia and Artsakh called for Armenians to move to Kashatagh and made promises of aid and assistance to all those who heeded the call. Today those promises have not been kept.
As a result, living conditions in Kashatagh are bad and getting worse. Armenians who moved into the region are now leaving. If the situation persists, this strategically vital corridor that links Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh will be emptied of any meaningful Armenian presence.
Armenians in the diaspora cannot remain silent when faced with this unfortunate reality. We need to forcefully voice our concerns and demand an adequate degree of accountability from those responsible for this sorry state of affairs.
The word must be spread far and wide that all concerned Armenians will no longer tolerate “business as usual” when it comes to assisting our compatriots in Kashatagh and Artsakh. They feel neglected and betrayed by their local officials. We must show them that they do not stand alone.
To publicize the gravity of the situation we have created a new website:
http://www.kashatagh.com
It includes pertinent background information regarding Kashatagh and links to current news sources covering the region.
More importantly, we have posted an ON-LINE PETITION in the website addressed to the presidents of both the Republic of Armenian and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The petition calls on these officials to immediately take all possible measures to rectify the problems faced by the Armenians in Kashatagh.
We ask that you circulate news of this new website in order that we collect as many petition signatures as possible.
Collectively, we can make a difference in the lives of the residents of Kashatagh.
Sincerely,
Coalition In Support Of Kashatagh
www.kashatagh.com
e-mail: info@kashatagh.com
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