FRENCH PRESIDENT CHIRAC’S SO-CALLED GENOCIDE REMARKS INTIMIDATE FRENCH FIRMS
Journal of Turkish Daily,
Oct 4 2006
PARIS – Reactions to French President Jacques Chirac, who implied
during his Yerevan visit that Turkey should recognize the alleged
Armenian genocide to become an EU member, are growing. France is one
of the biggest investors in Turkey.
French firms are now concerned that their investments in Turkey
would be negatively affected by the remarks. The draft law that would
penalize those who deny the alleged genocide has also deepened such
concerns.
French paper Le Monde, drawing attention to the financial difficulties
of the French companies interested in Turkish bids, stressed that the
remarks could cause a substantial loss totaling billions of dollars.
A political advisor of Chirac stated that it has become apparent the
president needs to clarify his remarks.
In Turkey, some of the societies called not to buy French good till
the French President clarify his words.
Speaking to Le Monde, Chirac’s advisor noted that there was no
change in the president’s supportive position regarding Turkey’s
EU membership. The advisor, who stressed that Chirac’s remarks were
political, not legal, noted that it is now imperative for Chirac to
make an explanation to Turkey concerning his statements in Yerevan.
The draft bill that stipulates the punishment of those who deny
the alleged genocide will be discussed in the plenary of the French
parliament on Oct. 12. French firms are highly concerned that the
draft will be adopted because of the upcoming elections. Before
the parliamentary discussions held to review the draft bill in May,
the foreign trade ministry had sent a note to the deputies referring
to the economic risks for France in case of its adoption. The note
published by Le Monde stressed that the firms interested in Turkish
bids would have to face billions of dollars loss if the bill were
adopted. The French firms interested in Turkish bids include large
firms such as AREVA, Eurocopter, Alstom and Credit Agricole.
In a statement he made to Le Monde, French politician of Armenian
origin, Patrick Devedjian, recalling that Chirac has made a clear point
for the first time, cited his remarks as an historical turning point.
Devedjian noted that Chirac, by making the remarks, transformed the
2001 genocide law, which is of legal character, into a political
action. Drawing attention to the analogy Chirac made between the
Holocaust and the alleged genocide, he further noted that Chirac is
the first leader who made a connection between the Jewish genocide
and the alleged Armenian genocide.
ISRAEL REJECTS ATTEMPTS TO CREATE A SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE HOLOCAUST
AND THE ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS
While Chirac makes connection between the Armenian allegations and the
Jewish genocide, the Jewish people and Israeli Government reject such
attempts. The Nobel Prize winning Israeli statesman, Shimon Peres,
for instance says the 1915 Events was not genocide:
"We reject attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust
and the Armenian allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust
occurred. It is a tragedy what the Armenians went through but not a
genocide… Israel should not determine a historical or philosophical
position on the Armenian issue.
If we have to determine a position, it should be done with great care
not to distort the historical realities." (‘Peres: Armenian Allegations
are Meaningless’, Turkish Daily News, 10 April 2001; Haig Boyadjian,
‘Peres Claims Armenians Did Not Experience Genocide’, Asbarez, 10
April 2001).
Turkey accepts that the Armenians went through a tragedy during the
1915 Relocation Campaign, yet the Government has never accepted that
the tragedy was genocide. According to the Turkish approach most of
the Armenians died due to the bad weather, war curcumstances, epidemic
diseases and ethnic clashes, mostly the Kurdish tribal attacks. More
than 520.000 Turkish and Kurdish were killed by the Armenian gangs.