People’s Daily, China
Oct 13 2006

Turkey slams France over adoption of Armenian genocide bill

Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday slammed the French Parliament’s
adoption of a proposed draft law criminalizing any denial of the
alleged massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World
War I.

Relations between Turkey and France have suffered "a heavy blow due
to irresponsible initiatives of several French politicians who are
not able to predict consequences of their policies," the ministry
said in a statement.

"Despite our all diplomatic and parliamentary initiatives, and
efforts of our citizens living in France, non-governmental
organizations and business circles, the French parliament adopted the
bill submitted by the Socialist Party on criminalizing of any denial
of so-called Armenian genocide. We profoundly regret the adoption of
the bill," the statement said.

French lawmakers on Thursday voted 106-19 for the bill, which calls
for up to a year in prison and fines of up to 56,000 U.S. dollars for
anyone who denies the Armenian genocide, according to the Turkish
media.

The bill must be passed by the Senate and signed by French President
Jacques Chirac, the reports said.

Reacting to the adoption of the bill, Turkish Parliament Speaker
Bulent Arinc said on Thursday, "It is a shameful and hostile
resolution. It is totally unacceptable."

Arinc expressed his regret over adoption of the draft and said,
"France is considered the cradle of individual freedoms. This
decision contradicts with freedom of thought and expression."

Turkey, a secular Muslim country which is seeking for the European
Union (EU) membership, has vowed to impose economic sanctions on
France if the bill is passed in the French parliament.

According to the Zaman daily newspaper, Turkey is the fifth- largest
customer of France outside the EU. The volume of trade between Turkey
and France is about 10 billion dollars. French exports to Turkey are
5.9 billion dollars while its import remains at 3.8 billion dollars.

Turkey has always denied that up to 1.5 million Armenians were
subjected to genocide in the period between 1915 and 1923.

However, it does acknowledge that up to 300,000 Armenians died during
fighting and efforts to relocate populations away from the war zone
in eastern Turkey.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress