The Daily Star, Lebanon
Oct 13 2006

Turks rip French MPs for passing bill on Armenian genocide

Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, October 13, 2006

Turkey threatened unspecified measures against France Thursday after
the French Parliament passed a bill making it a crime to deny that
Turks committed genocide against Armenians during World War I. In
Ankara, angry protesters pelted the French Embassy with eggs, others
laid a black wreath at the gate of the French Consulate in Istanbul
and unions called for a trade boycott.

"We have considered measures in every field. We will activate them
seriously and soberly," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters.

"Our indignation is great – both on the official level and among the
people," he added.

Gul said the Turkish Parliament will hold a special session Tuesday
to assess the situation.

The French bill – which foresees up to one year in prison and a fine
of up to 45,000 euros ($57,000) for anyone who denies that the
1915-1917 massacres of Armenians under Ottoman rule was genocide –
still needs the approval of the Senate and the president to take
effect. The French government did not support the motion and promised
on Thursday to oppose it when it gets to the Senate, but Turkey said
the damage had already been done.

Ankara warned before the vote that French companies would be barred
from major tenders, including a project for a nuclear power plant
whose tender process is expected to start soon.

"Turkish-French relations… took a heavy blow today through the
irresponsible initiatives of some short-sighted French politicians,
based on unfounded allegations," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"With this draft law, France is unfortunately losing its privileged
status with the Turkish people," it said.

"We hope France will come back from this dead-end," Gul said. "No one
should expect that Turkey will forget this as it did in 2001," he
said, referring to a first French resolution recognizing the killings
as genocide.

Ankara also said the draft impeded free debate on a historical
subject and flouted provisions protecting freedom of expression in
the European Convention of Human Rights.

Pointing at mounting European Union pressure on Ankara to ensure
freedom of speech after several Turkish intellectuals were put on
trial for contesting the official line on the Armenian issue, Gul
said: "From now on, France will never describe itself as the homeland
of freedoms.

"It will never be proud of being the country where ideas are freely
expressed," he added. "This shame will really be a grave one for
them."

Ankara sees the bill as a political gesture to France’s large
Armenian community ahead of presidential elections next year.

Many also see it as a blow below the belt by opponents of Turkey’s EU
membership that will tarnish the country’s image in Europe and fan
anti-Western feeling among Turks.

Echoing that sentiment, Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said
that the French move reflected a "hostile attitude" toward Turkey.

"It is a shameful decision. This is a hostile attitude against the
Turkish nation … It is unacceptable," Arinc was quoted as saying by
Turkey’s official Anatolia news agency.

Members of a trade union laid a black wreath outside the French
Embassy in Ankara and at least one egg was hurled into the mission’s
garden before police seized a bag full of eggs the protesters had
brought, Anatolia reported.

Some business and consumer groups called for a boycott of French
goods.

"Each week, we will announce a French brand [to boycott] and the
boycott list will grow," said Baris Deniz, the head of the Consumers’
Union.

"French companies must be definitely sidelined from major public
tenders, particularly in the transport, energy and defense industry
sectors," Omer Bolat, chairman of Islamist-leaning business group
MUSIAD, told Anatolia.

But Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan said that his country does
not plan to boycott French products.

"As the government of Turkey, we will not be leading, we are not
going to organize such events," Babacan said.

"But on the other hand, if in some segments of the society, some
civil actions, will do things in that line, it is up to our people,"
he said.

Bilateral trade between Turkey and France totaled $10 billion in
2005. – Agencies