Finnish Foreign Minister Calls Armenia Bill ‘Foolish’
By Foreign News Desk

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 19 2006

Thursday, October 19, 2006
zaman.com

Finland’s foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja criticized France harshly
for their bill criminalizing the denial of an Armenian genocide and
said that the French parliament "has made a bad mistake."

Finland currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

His comments were published on a foreign ministry website.

"Parliaments shouldn’t make laws regarding historical facts," he said.

"Lawmakers should never intervene in such self-evident and
self-questioning political arguments and the atmosphere of debate
that emerges in the aftermath through legislating them. However,
France unfortunately did not behave according to this principle with
the Armenian genocide bill that passed the lower house. I think France
has made a big mistake and it should quit this mistake immediately."

He also remarked, "I personally think that ‘genocide’ is the right
term to describe what was experienced at that time and I hope Turkey
will become ready to accept this reality."

Bill Likely to Weaken EU’s Power

Finland’s foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja opined that it would not
be politically astute for parliaments and governments to legislate
historical facts.

"The EU has repeatedly demanded that Turkey abolish the notorious
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Many Turks, including the Nobel
Prize winning writer Orhan Pamuk have been sued so far, using this law
that considers that the thoughts they expressed were offensive to the
Turkish state. Now conservative people in Turkey might not pay heed
to the EU’s calls and may question whether the EU has such a right."

In the meantime, two prominent French historians, Pierre Nora and
Francoise Chandernagor, repeated their criticism of the bill in
question.

Speaking on French television on France-3 in an open debate, Nora
stated "Those under the influence of Armenian voters, also the
deputies against Turkey’s EU membership process, are taking advantage
of this bill."

Chandernagor, who said that the bill had opened a Pandora ‘s Box,
stated, "There is no end to this; there are approximately 15 bills
waiting to be discussed about historical events; even about the
Crusades. Where will this lead us?"

The Association of Freedom for History, founded by Nora and
Chandernagor with a group of French academics, has harshly opposed
the bill.