ANKARA RESOLUTE OVER ARMENIAN BILL, SOLE CONCERN TIES WITH FRANCE
EmÝne Kart

Turkish Daily News
Sept 30 2006

‘The Armenian lobby should abandon backstage games and come up
with concrete arguments supported by historical facts,’ say Turkish
diplomatic sources

The French National Assembly has decided to vote in the coming
days on a highly contentious bill — shelved last spring, leading
to dismay and anger among the Armenian diaspora in France — that
penalizes any denial of an alleged Armenian genocide at the hands of
the Ottoman Empire.

The assembly’s decision for the vote, scheduled for Oct. 12, came
at the request from the main opposition Socialist Party, the bill’s
architect.

When the bill first appeared on the agenda in May, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, backed by Turkish business leaders and unions,
appealed to France to block the contentious item, warning of the
potential threat to bilateral relations.

As of yesterday the Turkish capital didn’t feel the need to release
an official response to the recent development in France, which comes
at a time when the atmosphere in domestic French politics is heating
up with the approach of presidential and parliamentary elections,
both slated for next year.

Yet diplomatic sources at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, speaking with
the Turkish Daily News, underlined the importance Turkey attributes to
bilateral relations with France and expressed concern that adoption of
such a controversial bill would harm relations between the two peoples
as well as French businessmen doing business in and with Turkey.

"Even if this bill is adopted, it is not possible for Turkey to accept
such a theory," the same sources said, while noting that Ankara
has been contacting French officials at every level to prevent the
bill’s adoption.

Turkish officials drew attention to the fact that Armenia, with its aim
of having genocide accusations against Turkey accepted by third-party
countries, is trying to damage bilateral relations between Turkey
and other countries to secure an advantage in the political arena.

"The Armenian lobby should abandon backstage games and should come up
with concrete arguments supported by historical facts," the diplomatic
sources said, referring to Ankara’s proposal last year to establish a
joint committee of Turkish and Armenian experts to study allegations
of an Armenian genocide in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

Earlier this month, during talks with his French counterpart, Philippe
Douste-Blazy, as part of a visit to France, Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul suggested that France participate in such a body.

Gul said at the time that other countries, including France, could
join the proposed committee of Turkish and Armenian academics to
study the allegations.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan sent a letter to Armenian President
Robert Kocharian proposing the establishment of such a committee,
but his proposal was turned down by Kocharian, who instead offered
an intergovernmental commission that would study ways of resolving
problems between the two neighboring countries. Turkey says its
proposal is still on the table.

During talks with Douste-Blazy, Gul also raised Ankara’s uneasiness
over the French bill penalizing any denial of the alleged genocide.

Gul told Douste-Blazy it was a contradiction to hold a parliamentary
debate on a bill that restricts freedom of expression, while the
European Union presses Ankara to amend Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code (TCK) under which a wave of authors and journalists has
been tried. "We cannot accept a historical issue being dragged onto
a political platform," he said at the time.

Chirac’s first trip to Armenia:

Ahead of his first official visit to Armenia at the invitation of
Kocharian, Chirac used the phrase "the Armenian genocide committed
by the Ottoman Empire."

Chirac employed the wording during an interview with an Armenian
journal; the transcript was translated into Turkish by the French
Embassy in Ankara.

"Europe is first of all an effort of reconciliation, peace, respect
and openness to others. I believe in Turkey’s ability to pay historical
tribute, as the spirit of Europe lies in that," he said.

Chirac, who was scheduled to depart on Friday for the official two-day
visit, is also scheduled to visit a monument dedicated to the killings
of Anatolian Armenians called the "Memorial to Armenian Genocide."

Today, Chirac and Kocharian will attend a concert by the renowned
Charles Aznavour that will be performed to mark the beginning of the
Year of Armenia in France, called "Armenia, My Friend."

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