Multiple Articles:
IN HISTORIC MOVE, FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
VOTES TO PENALIZE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE DENIAL
PARIS, FRANCE - In a historic move, the French National Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to adopt a law imposing legal penalties on deniers of the Armenian Genocide.
The legislation, introduced by Christophe Masse, Didier Migaud et Martine David (Socialist group), seeks "to counter the denial of the Armenian Genocide." The measure, adopted by a vote of 106 to 19, adds a second article to the 2001 law through which "France publicly acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915."
In a direct reference to the law already in place imposing penalties
for the denial of the Jewish Holocaust ("Loi Gayssot"), the measure
approved this week states that, "those who contest the existence of the
Armenian Genocide through methods recorded in its article 23 will be
sanctioned
through article 24-2 of the 28 July 1881 Law on the press liberty."
"We welcome this historical move, which demonstrates, once again,
that France continues to lead the international community's progress on
human rights and the dignity on man. State-sponsored denial of genocide
represents a calculated form of incendiary hate speech that threatens
both public safety as well as the ability of society to organize itself,
through open discourse, to prevent the repetition of genocides in the
future. We offer our profound thanks to the individual political
leaders and the broader movement that have moved this cause
forward,"said Hilda Tchoboian, the Chairperson of the European Armenian
Federation.
"We do hope that the Senate will adopt this same text in the very near future, so that this measure will become the law of France at the first opportunity," added Tchoboian.
The European Armenian Federation notes with interest that the path to the adoption of this measure in France was paved by the recent electoral defeat of Armenian Genocide deniers in Belgium, the exclusion of Armenian Genocide deniers from electoral lists in the Netherlands, and the ban on Armenian Genocide denial demonstrations in Germany.
"The time is now for a global European law that would penalize the Armenian Genocide denial, as well as the other Genocide denials occurring in Europe" concluded Tchoboian.
Armenia Hails French Genocide Vote Amid Turkish Fury
RFE/RL, Reuters, AFP
Armenia on Thursday strongly welcomed the passage by France's lower house of parliament of a landmark bill that makes it a crime to deny Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War One.
The National Assembly approved the bill by 106 votes to 19 earlier in the day over the French government's objections, provoking anger in Turkey and raising fresh doubts about the success of its efforts to secure European Union membership.
`Today's approval of the bill by the French National Assembly is a natural continuation of France's principled and consistent defense of human and historic rights and values,' Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said in a statement.
`This decision is also a natural reaction to the intensive, aggressive and official denialism of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish state,' added Oskanian. `They have undertaken a premeditated, planned assault on the truth.'
The statement was echoed by an association representing the Armenian
Diaspora in France and other European nations. "We welcome with emotion
this historic step forward through which, once again, France points the
way down the path of progress, humanity and dignity," Hilda Tchoboian,
president of the Brussels-based Euro-Armenian Federation said in a
statement.
"The hydra of denial is a tumor on freedom of expression and a threat to public order that must be eradicated," she went on, thanking all the "political personalities who joined together in this struggle".
The bill might never become law because it still needs to be ratified by the upper house Senate and president, but French firms fear they will suffer an immediate backlash in Turkey. The legislation establishes a one-year prison term and 45,000 euro ($56,570) fine for anyone denying the genocide -- the same sanction as for denying the Nazi genocide of Jews.
"Does a genocide committed in World War One have less value than a genocide committed in World War Two? Obviously not," Philippe Pomezec, a parliamentarian with the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), said during the debate.
The French government did not support the motion and promised on Thursday to oppose it when it gets to the Senate, but Turkey said the damage has already been done. "French-Turkish relations ... have been dealt a severe blow today as a result of the irresponsible false claims of French politicians who do not see the political consequences of their actions," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Turkish analysts say more is at stake than just bilateral ties, arguing that the vote will encourage Turkish nationalists and undermine pro-EU liberals by exposing the depth of anti-Turkey feelings in a founding member of the European Union. "It is the intention of those French politicians who backed this bill to antagonize Turkey, to push it to the limit and force it to throw in the towel," said Cengiz Candar, an EU expert at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University.
Some 60 protestors carried a black wreath down Istanbul's main commercial street on Thursday and laid it in front of the French consulate.
The European Commission, meanwhile, warned France that its bill could hinder efforts to end decades of dispute over the killings and noted that criteria for talks on Turkey's possible EU entry do not include recognition of the Armenian killings as genocide. "Should this law indeed enter into force, it would prohibit the debate and the dialogue which is necessary for reconciliation on this issue," said Krisztina Nagy, spokeswoman on enlargement for the European Union's executive arm.
Oskanian insisted, however, the French parliament's decision to criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide is `understandable.' `What we don't understand is the Turkish government's instigation of extremist public reactions, especially while Turkey itself has a law that does exactly the same thing and punishes those who even use the term genocide or venture to discuss those events,' he said.
The Turkish reaction to the French vote was also criticized by EU
member Greece that too has had historically strained ties with Turkey.
"Threats or insinuations, and the virulent tone of public statements do
not befit a country on the road to joining the European Union," foreign
ministry
spokesman George Koumoutsakos told a news briefing.
France is believed to be home to the largest Armenian community in western Europe, with up to half a million people of Armenian descent living there. They make up a powerful political lobby which cannot be overlooked just seven months ahead of a presidential election. However, some Turks think French politicians have a broader agenda and are using the bill to try to block Ankara's EU bid.
Most French people oppose Turkey joining the 25-nation bloc and fear over its potential membership was one of the reasons why France voted last year to reject the EU constitution. Anti-Turkish feeling was palpable as French lawmakers left parliament on Thursday.
Influential UMP politician Patrick Devedjian, himself of Armenian descent, said Muslim Turkey was not a democratic country and did not deserve EU membership. "It is like they are asking to enter a club but have already smashed its windows," he told Reuters television.
An hour after the vote, Turkey's best-known novelist, Orhan Pamuk, won the Nobel prize for Literature. Pamuk recently went on trial for insulting "Turkishness" after telling a Swiss newspaper nobody in Turkey dared mention the Armenian massacres. The court eventually dropped charges.
French businesses fear trade will suffer because of the row, with French exports to Turkey worth 4.66 billion euros in 2005. "Time will show. But I cannot say it will not have any consequences," Turkish Economics Minister Ali Babacan told reporters in Brussels. Asked about the threat of a boycott to French goods, he said: "As the government of Turkey, we are not encouraging something like that. But this is the people's decision."
Armenia genocide bill approved
Birmingham Post, UK
French politicians yesterday approved a bill making it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during and after the First World War amounted to genocide.
Deputies in the National Assembly voted 106-19 for the bill, which has prompted out-rage in Turkey and embarrassed the French government.
The bill, which was introduced by the opposition Socialists, must still be passed by the Senate and be signed by President Jacques Chirac.
The French bill would recognise the killings of up to 1.5 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1919 as genocide, and those who contest a
genocide would risk up to a year in prison and fines of
up to 45,000 euros (pounds 30,400).
Armenia accuses Turkey of massacring Armenians during the First World War, when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says Armenians were killed in civil unrest.
Turkey dealt blow over EU
Financial Times (London, England)
Turkey dealt blow over EU "Ankara angered by French bill on Armenian issue"
Move seen as sign Paris opposes membership
By MARTIN ARNOLD, VINCENT BOLAND, DANIEL DOMBEY and GEORGE PARKER
Turkey's prospects of joining the European Union took a heavy blow last night when France's National Assembly approved a bill which outraged Ankara and that critics say will set back the cause of reform within Turkey.
The French legislation, which could still be blocked by the Senate, would make it a crime to deny that Armenians were the victims of genocide in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.
The bill was read in Turkey as a sign that France was now permanently opposed to Ankara's bid to join the EU.
Bulent Arinc, the parliamentary speaker, criticised France's "hostile
attitude" towards Turkey. "This is a shameful decision. We are very
sorry to see that this (bill) was passed only because of internal
(French) politics."
Turkey denies genocide, and the judicial authorities have prosecuted writers who have used the term to describe the killings of Armenians.
One of the most prominent such figures is Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish novelist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature yesterday, minutes after the French vote.
Opinion polls show a majority of French voters oppose Turkish
membership. The issue is sensitive in France because of the country's
450,000-strong Armenian community, which has grown rich and
influential.
Armenians say as many as 1.5m people died in 1915-18, while Turkey admits only that hundreds of thousands of both Armenians and Turks died, largely as a result of civil war and famine.
The bill may never become law, because it must still be approved by the Senate, France's upper house of parliament, and signed by President Jacques Chirac, who is opposed to the initiative and whose government ultimately controls the agenda of the Senate.
However, yesterday's vote is likely to bolster the position of Turkish nationalists.
Anti-EU sentiment in Turkey has risen sharply recently, ahead of a crucial European Commission report next month that is likely to be critical of Turkey's lack of progress over reforms.
Even before yesterday's vote, many diplomats believed that the EU membership talks could be formally suspended this year and might never be revived.
Politicians in Ankara have threatened to retaliate with economic sanctions and have even toyed with a law making it a crime to deny that North Africans were massacred by French colonial rulers.
Olli Rehn, the EU enlargement commissioner, has criticised the draft French law, which he believes could heighten anti-western sentiment in Turkey and snuff out an emerging debate inside the country about the events of 1915. "If this law entered into force it would prohibit debate and dialogue necessary for reconciliation on this issue," said Mr Rehn's spokeswoman.
While Mr Chirac favours Turkish accession to the EU, prominent
ministers such as Nicolas Sarkozy are firmly opposed. Segolene Royal,
the Socialists' leading presidential candidate, has been
non-committal, saying this week she would defer to public opinion on the
question.
But Mr Chirac said on a visit to Armenia this month that Turkish recognition of the Armenian genocide should become a pre-condition of EU membership.
Additional reporting by George Parker in Brussels and Daniel Dombey in London
Greece labels Turkey's warnings to France as `threats':
Greece on Thursday criticized Turkey, labelling as "threats" Ankara's
warnings to Paris over a French draft law that would make it a crime to
deny that the 1915-1917 killings of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire was `genocide.'
'Threats or insinuations and the virulent tone of public statements do
not befit a country on the road to joining the European Union,' Greek
Foreign Ministry spokesman George Koumoutsakos told a news
briefing.
French deputies in the National Assembly on Thursday passed the bill
introduced by the opposition Socialist Party by 106 votes to 19.
If it is subsequently passed by the Senate, and then again by the
National Assembly, and signed into law by President Jacques Chirac, it
would make it a crime in France to deny that the killings of the
Armenians were `genocide.'
Those violating the law would face up to one year in prison and a fine
of up to 45,000 euros.
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