FRENCH VIEW OF HISTORY THREATENS TRADE WITH TURKEY
by: Nicolas Cheviron
Agence France Presse — English
May 15, 2006 Monday 3:06 AM GMT
French businessmen in Turkey are bracing for a vote in their country’s
National Assembly this Thursday that could prove disastrous for trade.
France’s Socialists have stirred up a very sore point in relations
with Turkey over an issue that dates back to World War 1, when hundreds
of thousands of Armenians perished.
At stake for French business is an estimated 9.6 billion dollars
worth of French-Turkish trade.
The Socialists want to punish anyone who denies that a crime of
genocide was committed by Turkish troops, and have submitted a bill
proposing five years jail and a 45,000-euro ((57,000-dollar) fine
for those denying genocide.
The Turks have always denied that genocide occurred, and are already
furious with the French over their view of history.
In 2001 the French National Assembly seriously antagonised Turkey
by passing legislation officially declaring that the tragedy between
1915 and 1917 was to be regarded as genocide.
The Turks concede that there were many deaths 90 years ago but resist
the legal term “genocide”, a word which is poison here. They insist
the Armenians were instead the victims of a terrible war.
Massacre and deportations of Armenians claimed 1.5 million lives,
according to the Armenian side. The Turks say no more than some
300,000 died.
Last Wednesday Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appealed
to France to block the contentious new bill, warning of the threat
to relations posed by it.
France, with the largest expatriate Armenian population in Europe,
has a special interest in the Armenians’ fate.
But Luc de Noirmont, head of the major French retailer Carrefour,
appealed to his country’s legislators to “be guided by reason.”
In fact political observers predict that the bill is likely to fall
because the opposition will not be able to muster enough votes on
Thursday.
But French executives are still nervous and will be able to heave a
sigh of relief only when Thursday is past.
For they have been feeling the heat in the run-up, as Turkish tempers
rise at the very mention of the proposals of French Socialists.
Several French companies including the electronic and hi-tech
giants Thomson and Alcatel have already been deliberately kept out
of invitations to tender by Turkish authorities, and a clamour has
arisen in Turkey for a boycott of French goods.
“In 2001, the effects of the (French) genocide law were diluted by
the fact that Turkey was going into serious economic crisis,” said
Francois Sporrer, head of the French economic mission in Istanbul.
Bilateral trade fell in any case because of this crisis, with French
exports plunging from 3.53 billion dollars in 2000 to 2.28 billion
dollars in 2001, according to figures of the national statistical
institute here.
But things are different now. Five years on, Turkey has made a
comeback, notching up new growth records of 5.9 percent 2003, 9.9
percent in 2004 and 7.6 percent last year.
“Few countries are experiencing an economic boom comparable to that
of Turkey at present,” said the head of Carrefour.
“This time the consequences will be more serious,” warned Esref
Hamamcioglu, Turkish director of the French catering group Sodexho.
“The government is better organised and feels stronger especially since
we have become official candidates for entry into the European Union.”
And Yves-Marie Laouenan, head of the French chamber of commerce in
Turkey, issued a warning.
“It’s going to be worse this time. If the bill is passed, going
to France and saying there was no genocide would be like mark of
patriotism.”
“The most serious thing that happened in 2001 was an underhand form
of boycott applied by individuals inside government, especially
the customs who took it upon themselves to defend national honour,”
he recalled.
The 430-member Turkish chamber of commerce has intensified appeals
to French leaders including a letter to President Jacques Chirac,
urging them to abandon Thursday’s vote.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
