The New Anatolian - Final warnings to Paris
October 9, 2006
The New Anatolian / Ankara
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit warned their French counterparts over the weekend about the need to block a bill that would make it a crime to question the Armenian genocide claims.
The top Turkish officials, in letters and telephone conversations with their French counterparts and through statements to the press, underlined three basic points:
"Such a law would result in great damage to bilateral relations in all fields, fuel anti-Western and nationalistic ideas among the Turkish public and seriously undermine Turkey's reconciliation efforts with Armenia."
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul disclosed that he spoke to his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy by phone and told him that French companies will be excluded from major tenders, including a nuclear plant, if the bill is adopted.
Military circles said that they will review military ties if such a law is passed by the French Parliament as it would create a major confidence crisis with France, a NATO ally.
Prime Minister Erdogan met with representatives of French companies doing business in Turkey on Saturday and asked for their help to block the controversial draft bill.
Meeting behind closed doors, Erdogan told the company representatives that the bill could harm economic ties between Turkey and France.
"I ask that you make all the effort possible to prevent this," the semi-official Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying. He also said the Turkish public view the bill as a "hostile act."
The French companies represented at the meeting included Danone, Peugeot, Renault and Lafarge, Anatolia reported.
French lawmakers, who caved into pressure from French businessmen, and a group of French intellectuals, put off sensitive debates on the issue in the lower house in May, but are now scheduled to redebate the bill on Thursday. Under the bill, people who contest that there was an Armenian "genocide" risk up to a year in prison and fines of up to $57,000.
Pro-Armenian deputies seek amendment
Diplomatic sources told The New Anatolian on Sunday that a group of pro-Armenian lawmakers were seeking an amendment to the draft, in order to defuse one of the strong arguments of the Turkish side against the bill in defense of freedom of expression.
The proposed amendment aims at excluding scholars and historians from the scope of bill and is also a move expected to influence undecided French deputies.
In related news, a group of frustrated Turkish deputies are preparing to bring up bills in response to the French move, asking for the recognition of what they described as an Algerian "genocide" committed by France and to make it a crime to deny that.
The drafts are expected to be discussed by the Justice Commission this week.
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 / Ankara
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit warned their French counterparts over the weekend about the need to block a bill that would make it a crime to question the Armenian genocide claims.
The top Turkish officials, in letters and telephone conversations with their French counterparts and through statements to the press, underlined three basic points:
"Such a law would result in great damage to bilateral relations in all fields, fuel anti-Western and nationalistic ideas among the Turkish public and seriously undermine Turkey's reconciliation efforts with Armenia."
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul disclosed that he spoke to his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy by phone and told him that French companies will be excluded from major tenders, including a nuclear plant, if the bill is adopted.
Military circles said that they will review military ties if such a law is passed by the French Parliament as it would create a major confidence crisis with France, a NATO ally.
Prime Minister Erdogan met with representatives of French companies doing business in Turkey on Saturday and asked for their help to block the controversial draft bill.
Meeting behind closed doors, Erdogan told the company representatives that the bill could harm economic ties between Turkey and France.
"I ask that you make all the effort possible to prevent this," the semi-official Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying. He also said the Turkish public view the bill as a "hostile act."
The French companies represented at the meeting included Danone, Peugeot, Renault and Lafarge, Anatolia reported.
French lawmakers, who caved into pressure from French businessmen, and a group of French intellectuals, put off sensitive debates on the issue in the lower house in May, but are now scheduled to redebate the bill on Thursday. Under the bill, people who contest that there was an Armenian "genocide" risk up to a year in prison and fines of up to $57,000.
Pro-Armenian deputies seek amendment
Diplomatic sources told The New Anatolian on Sunday that a group of pro-Armenian lawmakers were seeking an amendment to the draft, in order to defuse one of the strong arguments of the Turkish side against the bill in defense of freedom of expression.
The proposed amendment aims at excluding scholars and historians from the scope of bill and is also a move expected to influence undecided French deputies.
In related news, a group of frustrated Turkish deputies are preparing to bring up bills in response to the French move, asking for the recognition of what they described as an Algerian "genocide" committed by France and to make it a crime to deny that.
The drafts are expected to be discussed by the Justice Commission this week.
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 6:57 AM
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