Los Angeles Times
Oct 13 2006
EU Criticizes French Vote to Punish the Denial of Armenian Genocide
By Achrene Sicakyuz, Times Staff Writer
October 13, 2006
PARIS – Another potential barrier to Turkey’s entry to the European
Union surfaced Thursday when the French National Assembly approved a
bill that would punish anyone who denied that the killing of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks during and after World War I was genocide.
Under the legislation, asserting that the massacres, expulsions and
imprisonment that killed an estimated 1.2 million Armenians in the
former Ottoman Empire did not constitute genocide can be punished by
up to a year of imprisonment and a $57,000 fine.
The EU, which began discussing Turkey’s membership last year,
strongly criticized the vote, which also drew rebukes from the
Turkish government.
"In the case this bill would become a law, it would prevent the
dialogue and debate that are necessary for reconciliation," said a
spokeswoman for Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner for enlargement.
The Turkish government threatened to retaliate by boycotting French
products.
"No one should harbor the conviction that Turkey will take this
lightly," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said. "From now on,
France will never describe itself as the homeland of freedoms."
Protesters in Ankara, the Turkish capital, hurled eggs at the French
Embassy, and in Istanbul demonstrators marched down the city’s main
commercial thoroughfare and laid a black wreath at the gates of the
French Consulate.
The Turkish government denies that genocide took place, and it has
prosecuted artists, authors and intellectuals for statements
regarding the issue.
The Armenian community in France, which numbers about 400,000,
pressed hard for the measure and hailed the vote as a long-awaited
victory.
"The memory of the victims is finally totally respected," said Alexis
Govciyan, a prominent French Armenian political activist.
The legislation passed on a vote of 106 to 19, with many abstentions
among the 577 assembly members.
It must also pass the Senate to be sent to the president. The current
government opposes the bill.
"Based on our experience, we know it is not a good thing to legislate
on such questions," French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said
Thursday.