ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
May 9, 2006 Tuesday 02:46 PM EST
French draft law may exacerbate relations – Turkish premier
by Kirill Zharov
A draft law the French parliament is readying to consider may
seriously exacerbate relations between Ankara and Paris, Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
The French parliament will consider a draft law, which punishes the
denial of the Armenian genocide with one year in custody and a large
fine, on May 18. Hence, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul asked
his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy if he would be put to
Bastille when he visits France.
On Monday Turkey summoned its ambassadors from France and Canada
because of bilateral disagreements over the Armenian genocide in the
Ottoman Empire.
The decision to summon the Turkish ambassador to France for
consultations in Ankara is solely in competence of the Turkish
authorities, a French Foreign Ministry representative said on
Tuesday.
The question of the Armenian genocide should be considered by
historians, rather than turned into a political affair, Erdogan said.
Turkey has opened to researchers all of its archives and thus showed
the readiness for cooperation. There are no differences with the
Armenian side in this respect, he said.
The current situation may damage trade and economic relations with
France, Erdogan told French businessmen in Ankara.
The Turkish representative at the European Court of Human Rights said
that Turkish authorities might even file a lawsuit against France in
this connection.
A lawsuit against France may be filed at the European Court of Human
Rights in compliance with the Human Rights Treaty. This is quite
possible, he said.
The Turkish ambassador to Canada has been summoned to Ankara for
consultations in protest against Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper’s pronouncement on the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire
in 19151-1917.
Harper recognized the fact of genocide on behalf of the Canadian
government this April. The previous government of Canada abstained
from the recognition.
The Turkish embassy immediately responded that the pronouncement
would have a negative effect on the bilateral relations. Turkey
rejects and condemns attempts based on years-long propaganda and
political maneuvering to create a one-sided interpretation of history
and pass lies for truth, the newspaper Globe and Mail said on
Tuesday.
The reaction of the Canadian Foreign Ministry was rather calm. A
ministerial representative said that they knew about planned
consultations of the Turkish ambassador last week. Such consultations
are a private matter, and would not be a reason for Canadian
speculations, the ministry said.
Leader of the opposition New Democratic Party Jack Layton supported
the government’s position on the Armenian genocide. He said Canadians
want their government to speak up about such matters even if these
pronouncements create certain bumps in relations with other
countries.
According to Yerevan, 1.5 million Armenians fell victims of the
genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1917. France recognized the
genocide fact in 2001. There are about 450,000 Armenians in France.
Meanwhile, Ankara says that it is question of repression during the
civil war of 1915-1917, and estimates the Armenian casualties at
300,000. Ankara says that approximately the same number of Turks was
killed back then.