TURKEY THREATENS SANCTIONS OVER FRENCH BILL ON ARMENIAN ISSUE

Hurriyet, Turkey
May 16 2006

Turkey has stated that it would impose trade sanctions on france should
the French parliament adopt a bill that would criminalize the denial
that during the early 20th century, the noted massacre of Armenians
in Turkey constitutes as genocide.

It is believed that as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the
then-Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917 in what Armenians consider
to be a genocide; Turkey has insisted that the deaths do not constitute
as genocide and the issue has caused much debate in recent months.

The French National Assembly is slated to consider an opposition
Socialist party-sponsored bill this Thursday that would make denying
the massacre was genocide illegal. Offenders could face a five-year
jail sentence and fines up to $57,000. France already has a law on
the books which recognizes the massacre as genocide.