CHIRAC GIVES FULL SUPPORRT TO ARMENIAN CLAIMS AGAINST TURKEY
By Tuluhan Bahar (JTW)
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 1 2006
French President Jacques Chirac has called on Turkey to "recognize
its past" in connection with Armenian historical claims, Chirac has
given total support to the Armenian claims assuming Turkish approach
is completely wrong.
Chirac and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian held a joint press
conference on Saturday in the Armenian capital of Yerevan following
their meeting. The two leaders accused Turkey of not recognizing the
so-called Armenian genocide. Armenia argues that the 1915 clashes
between the Turkish and Armenian forces was a genocide while the
Turkish side claims more than 520,000 Turkish people were massacred
by the Armenian armed forces.
When asked if Turkey had to recognize the Armenian ‘genocide’ claims
to join the European Union, Chirac stated "Honestly, I believe it
does. Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and mistakes of
the past".
ALGERIAN GENOCIDE AND ARMENIAN CLAIMS
Chirac contradicted previous statements he made that writing history
was the job of historians, not of the laws, when arguing against the
claims that France killed more than 1,5 million of Algerians between
1940 and 1962.
Hosting president Kocharian answered more softly and said that a
neighbor that had open borders and allowed free movement would be to
the interests of his country. Turkey – Armenia territorial borders
have been closed since Armenia occupied 20 percent of neighboring
Azerbaijani territories including Karabakh province.
‘DIRTY GAMES’
This recent move of Chirac is likely to strain relations between
Turkey and France, which passed a bill in 2001 recognizing 1915
clashes under the Ottoman Empire as "genocide". Some Turkish parties
and societies made calls to boycott French goods in protest of the
French President. Dr. Nilgun Gulcan from ISRO argued that the French
preferred the Armenians to the Turkish people:
"Chirac blame all Turkish people and the past instead of questioning
what genocides and massacres they committed in Africa and other
continents. The 1915 Events happened almost a century ago, but the
French are speaking now. This is not a history matter but a well
organized plan to halt Turkey’s EU membership. I personally think
that Turkey should not accept Armenian claims and should not join
the European Union. Armenia, instead of Turkey, should join the EU.
Because Armenia has better neighboring relations than Turkey according
to the French President."
A drafted bill, which, if passed, would a maximum punishment of a
year’s imprisonment and a fine of ~@45,000 for those who deny the
existence of the "Armenian genocide", will be discussed and voted on
in the French parliament on Oct. 12. Thus France who called Turkey to
discuss openly the Armenian claims in Turkey, will ban any discussion
about the Turkish-Armenian claims.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a report critical on
Turkey’s accession to the European Union, dropping a clause that
would have made recognition of the Armenian claims a pre-condition
for Turkey’s membership. However, the parliament called on Turkey
to "acknowledge the (so-called) Armenian genocide." The European
Parliament and Mr. Chirac did never mention the occupied Azeri
territories. More than 20 percent of Azeri territories have been
occupied by the Armenian forces and more than 1 million Azerbaijani
Turks have been refugees for more than a decade.
Armenia does not recognize Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s national
borders. About 50.000 Armenia Armenians, apart from 100,000 Turkey
Armenians, live and work in Turkey, mainly in Istanbul city. Armenia
has thorny relations with its almost all neighbors, Turkey, Georgia
and Azerbaijan.
WHAT ARE ARMENIAN CLAIMS?
When the Ottoman Empire was in the First World War, some of the
Armenian Ottomans rioted against their own State and made co-operation
with the enemies, namely Russians and French. When the Russian forces
entered the Eastern Anatolia, the Armenians also occupied some of
the Ottoman towns, like Van. As a result of riots and occupations
the Istanbul Government too the decision of Relocation (tehcir) of
the Eastern Armenians. The aim of the decision was to transfer the
Armenian population from the war theater to the safer Syria province
of the State. Unfortunately the implementation of the decision became
a tragedy when the Ottoman soldiers could not protect the civilian
Armenians. Thousands of Armenian died due to the ethnic attacks from
the Kurdish tribal gangs, bad whether, famine and epidemic diseases. On
the other hand more than 520.000 Muslims were massacred by the Armenian
gangs in order to Armenify the region. The Armenian nationalist aim
was to establish their own state on the Eastern Ottoman State. When
the First World War ended the Armenians declared that they were the
side of this war and they should be in the peace talks as part of
allies. However Turkey was established in 1923 and Armenians failed
in establishing greater Armenia.
Armenians claim that the Turks wanted to remove all the Armenians
from the Anatolian territories in 1915 and call the events
as genocide. Turkey does not accept the claims and says a joint
commission should be established to discuss the historical disputes
while the Armenian side rejected the offer. According to Armenia
"there is nothing to be discussed"
WHAT IS ALGERIAN GENOCIDE?
Approximately 1.5 million Algerian Muslim Arabs were tortured and
massacred under the French rule according to the Algerian sources
1.5 million dead, while French officials estimated it at 350,000.
[ geria1954.htm Algeria
Independence France 1954-1962] Algerians argue that the massacres
should be named as genocide and France must apologize from the
Algerians. However the French do not accept the claims. Algeria’s
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika says that French colonization
of his country Algeria was a form of genocide. In memoirs, some
French officers have described torture of Algerians during the war,
however France has never accepted its responsibility in tortures
and massacres in Algeria. Paris says that the past should be
left to historians. French President Jacques Chirac, upon harsh
reactions to the law encouraging the good sides of the French
colonial history, made the statement, "Writing history is the job
of the historians, not of the laws." Writing history is the job of
the historians" According to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin,
"speaking about the past or writing history is not the job of the
parliament."[ ernational&alt=&trh=20051210&hn=27378
France in Favor of So-Called Genocide Resorts to Historians]
The Algerian president Bouteflika said in a speech in Paris on 17
April 2006 "We no longer know whether we are Berbers (indigenous North
Africans), Arabs, Europeans or French. France committed a genocide
of Algerian identity during the colonial era. Colonisation brought
the genocide of our identity, of our history, of our language, of our
traditions."( ernational.cfm?id=583792006
Algerian leader calls colonisation ‘genocide’, Scotsman)
Algeria first became a colony of France in 1830. After a war which
ended in Algeria’s independence in 1962, eight million Algerian
residents were deprived of French nationality and hundreds of thousands
of ‘pieds noir’ (French who settled in Algeria and were re-patriated
at the end of the war) were forced home to a place which was not home.
Algeria called on France to apologise in 2005 for crimes committed
during the colonial era. Bouteflika also urged Paris to admit its
part in the massacres of 45,000 Algerians who took to the streets to
demand independence as Europe celebrated victory over Nazi Germany in
1945. French authorities then responded by playing down the comments,
urging "mutual respect".