REVIEWING RELATIONS WITH FRANCE

The New Anatolian
Oct 10 2006

Ankara toughened its stance towards Paris on Monday, saying it will
be left with no option but reviewing relations with France, due to
a draft bill that would make it a crime to question the Armenian
genocide claims.

Turkish officials told reporters yesterday that despite strong efforts
to convince French lawmakers that the disputed bill will have negative
impacts on bilateral relations, Turkey’s European Union process as
well as the reconciliation efforts with Armenia, today it seems highly
likely that the bill pass the lower house of French Parliament on
Thursday. Stressing that France has entered into an election period,
the officials said some of the lawmakers are under pressure from the
Armenian lobby and that some others will be in their constituency
area and will even not attend the meeting.

Officials said that under these conditions, the bill will probably
pass from the lower house, even without discussion.

"Turkey will view such a decision by French Parliament as a hostile
action," a high-level official from the Foreign Ministry told
reporters yesterday. "Despite France being a country that the young
Turkish Republic adopted as a model, it will lose all its privilege
and influence in Turkey," the official said.

Foreign Ministry officials acknowledged that Turkish people are
also benefiting from French companies investing in Turkey, but
underlined that if the bill is adopted by the French Parliament it
will be impossible to accept the participation of any further French
companies in strategic projects like nuclear plants or those in the
defense field.

The economic worth of tenders that French firms are looking to
participate in is approximately 14 billion euros. There are also some
4 billion euros in military tenders.

Foreign Ministry officials also listed several other possible steps
by Turkey to express its unease, in the fields of political, economic
and defense ties, but ruled out the option of calling back the Turkish
ambassador to Paris, at least for the time being.

If French Parliament’s lower house adopts the disputed bill, the
process for approval of the law will continue with a vote in the
Senate and finally the president’s signature. According to Turkish
officials, even if the controversial law is adopted, it is highly
likely to be challenged by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR),
on the basis of violating the principle of "freedom of expression."

However Turkish officials have expressed great regret that the French
move would fuel among the Turkish public a perception of European
double standards and also strengthen the country’s anti-Western
political trend.

A group of Turkish deputies intensified their efforts on Monday
to win the support of party groups for a bill that aims at official
recognition of the Algerian "genocide" committed by France, and makings
its denial a crime. Parliament sources told The New Anatolian that the
draft bill is highly likely to be discussed by the Justice Commission
on Wednesday.

However, Foreign Ministry officials adopted a critical approach towards
the move. An official told the press that as there is controversy
with France it is not wise to include a third party.

Underlining that even Algerians do not support such an initiative,
the official also said Turkey was insisting that the French move is
a big mistake, and a similar one by a group of Turkish deputies would
only undermine Turkey’s position.