TURKEY IN GENOCIDE DISPUTE WITH NATO ALLIES
By Amberin Zaman
Voice of America
May 11 2006
Turkey has pulled out of a NATO military exercise in Canada and is
considering sanctions against France for supporting Armenians who
want the mass slaughter of their kin by Ottoman-Turk forces during
and after World War I recognized as genocide.
Members of Turkey’s Workers’ Party hold banners reading ‘The genocide
lie is an American game’. A senior Turkish foreign ministry official
confirmed Turkey would not be participating in an air force training
exercise in Canada.
Turkey’s withdrawal is the latest in a series of moves aimed at
conveying Ankara’s anger over Canadian policy.
Turkey recalled its ambassador last week after Canada’s prime minister,
Stephen Harper, characterized the mass slaughter of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks as genocide.
Mr. Harper’s comments came as the French parliament prepares to debate
a bill that would criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide and
the Jewish Holocaust following World War II.
Critics of the bill, which was introduced by the Socialist bloc, say
it is calculated to win votes from France’s 800,000 strong Armenian
community in elections scheduled for next year. The French move has
broader ramifications as France is one of the most powerful members
of the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join.
Turkey has always denied that a genocide took place, but there are
mounting calls from within the European Union to change its policy of
denial as a condition for membership. Many Turks see such pressure as
further evidence that the European Union does not want a poor Muslim
country within its ranks.
But despite the Ankara government’s tough rhetoric, including veiled
threats of economic sanctions against France, public debate on the
fate of the Ottoman Armenians is growing in Turkey. Some prominent
Turkish academics have gone as far as to say that the mass killings
did amount to genocide.
But even these intellectuals say they are opposed to France’s efforts
to criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide. They argue that such
laws can only help to vindicate similar laws in Turkey that penalize
Turks who dare to utter the word genocide in discussions of the fate
of the Armenians after World War I.