The Journal of Turkish Weekly
2005-03-01 09:23:10

France Cannot Question Turkish History without Recognizing ‘The Algerian Genocide’
Jan Soykok – ANKARA

The first sitting of the EU-Turkey Interparliamentary Committee was held in
Strasbourg on February 23. The representatives of the European Committee and the
CE were present at the sitting.
Jacques Toubot, French parliamentarian, demanded to include in the agenda the
Armenian issue. Toubot argued that Turkey had to recognize Armenian allegations.
He claimed that the recognisition of Armenian arguments is a pre-condition for
full-membership.
The French parliamentarian Toubot further demanded that Turkey should recognize
accept the Treaty of Sevres, too. The Treaty of Sevres was signed by the Ottoman
representatives after the First World War, however it was never ratified. Turkey
and the allied states signed Lausanne Peace Treaty instead of Sevres in 1923.
Lausanne Peace Agreement was signed and recognized by France, Greece and Russian
Federation too. However the radical and militant Armenians do not recognize
Turkey’s national borders. Strangely the same people ask Turkey to set
diplomatic relations with Armenia.
Marios Matsakis, parliamentarian from Greek Cyprus, took the floor and stated:
“Turkey carried out genocide against the Armenians, the Greeks and the Kurds.”
Turkish MP Sukru Elekdag strictly criticized Matsakis and called his approach
“rough, full of hatred and behavior unbecoming of the EU.” Eleqdag said that
Toubot’s statements were groundless, adding that the issue should be studied by
the historians and not by the political figures. Afterwards, he suggested to
establish with the assistance of UNESCO a Committee for Studying the Issue of
the Armenian Allegations, including Turkish and Armenian specialists in that.
The demand to recognize the Treaty of Sevres was declined by Oghuz Demirlap,
Turkey’s Permanent Representative to the EU, saying that “such demands are
unacceptable.”
Dr. Nilgun Gulcan said the French politics become ‘ugly’ after 17 December EU
Summit. In the Summit the EU leaders declare that Turkey is a serious EU
candidate and they took decision to start full-membership negotiations.
Dr. Gulcan further continued:
“There is a strong Armenian lobby in France, and many politicians abuse the
issue in order to prevent Turkey’s EU membership or to increase their votes in
elections. Pro-Armenian French politicians accuse Turkey of committing genocide
against Armenians in 1915, however none of the French politicians speak about
the massacred 500.000 Azerbaijanis between 1918-1921 and more than 510.000
Turkish and Kurdish people killed by the Armenian gangs during the Ottoman
period. The Armenians armed militants killed thousands during the Karabakh war
and tortured many civilians in Khojally. Similarly the French MPs do not
question the French period in Algeria. About 1 million Algerians were tortured
and killed by the French soldiers. However France does not accept ‘Algerian
Genocide’. Thousands of Jewish were also sent to the Nazi Germany by the French
authorities during the Second World War. Most of these Jews were tortured and
killed by the Nazis. Turkey was one of the exceptional states which refused the
Nazi demands. I mean the French past is not perfect and the French politicians
cannot question Turkish history. They do see the Armenian torture and occupation
against Azerbaijan but they can talk about the so-called events happened almost
a century ago. It is strange. The strange role of the France in Turkey’s EU
membership has become uglier. The anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim groups could do
anything possible to halt Turkey’s membership. However they also undermine their
states as well. The anti-Turkish policies encourage the racist movements in
France and Germany. Secondly France prefer 2,5 million Armenia to 75 million
Turkey. It is strange. But it is not surprising. The French did the same mistake
many times.”

1 March 2005