THE NEW YORK TIMES
Oct 13 2006

French Pass Bill That Punishes Denial of Armenian Genocide
By Thomas Crampton

PARIS

France’s National Assembly, defying appeals from Turkey, approved
legislation Thursday that would make it a crime to deny that the mass
killings of Armenians in Turkey during and after World War I were
genocide.

The legislation, which was criticized by Turkey’s government and some
European Union officials, could further complicate talks for Turkey’s
admission to the Union.

With 106 deputies voting in favor and 19 against, the law sets fines
of up to 45,000 euros, or about $56,000, and a year in prison for
denying the genocide. Of the 577 members of the Assembly, four
abstained and 448 did not vote at all, raising the question of
whether there would be enough political will to push the law through
the Senate.

Scholars and most Western governments have recognized the killing of
more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Turks from 1915 to 1919 as
genocide. But the subject is still taboo in Turkey, and charges have
been pursued against writers and others who have brought attention to
the genocide, including Orhan Pamuk, the novelist who was just
awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.

`The Turkish people refuse the limitation of freedom of expression on
the basis of groundless claims,’ the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in
a statement. `With this draft law, France unfortunately loses its
privileged status in the eyes of Turkish public opinion.’

Ali Babacan, the Turkish economy minister and the country’s lead
negotiator on talks with Europe, said he could not rule out
consequences for French companies.

`What happened in France today, we believe, is not in line with the
core values of the European Union,’ Babacan said, adding that the
government would not encourage a boycott of French goods.

In Brussels, Belgium, the European Union warned that the law could
have a harmful effect on negotiations. `It would prohibit dialogue
which is necessary for reconciliation on the issue,’ said Krisztina
Nagy, a spokeswoman for the Union. `It is not up to law to write
history. Historians need to have debate.’

Turkey’s potential membership in the European Union has been a hot
political topic in France ahead of the presidential elections next
spring. But the new legislation has been more of a campaign issue in
France, which has one of Europe’s largest Armenian populations.