French in Turkey ‘genocide’ row

Reuters
October 12, 2006

By Crispian Balmer

PARIS (Reuters) – Ignoring Turkish protests, the French lower house of
parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill on Thursday making it a crime to
deny Armenians suffered genocide in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

French businesses fear a Turkish backlash because of the legislation, which
has highlighted broader anxieties about Turkish efforts to secure European
Union membership.

The bill still needs the approval of both the upper house Senate and the
French president to become law, but Turkey has already warned that
Thursday’s vote would damage ties between the two NATO allies.

Turkey denies accusations of a genocide of some 1.5 million Armenians during
the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in World War One, arguing that
Armenian deaths were a part of general partisan fighting in which both sides
suffered.

However, France’s Armenian community, which is up to 500,000-strong and one
of the largest in Europe, had pushed hard for the bill and found cross-party
support in parliament.

Thursday’s motion was carried by 106 votes to 19.

The legislation establishes a one-year prison term and 45,000 euro ($56,570)
fine for anyone denying the genocide — exactly the same sanctions as those
imposed for denying the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War Two.

The French government did not support the motion, saying it was up to
historians and not parliament to judge the past, but the ruling Union for a
Popular Movement (UMP) gave its lawmakers a free hand in the vote, ensuring
it would pass.

"Does a genocide committed in the World War One have less value than a
genocide committed in World War Two. Obviously not," UMP deputy Philippe
Pomezec said during the debate.

EU FEARS

However, some Turks think French politicians have more on their minds than
20th century history and suspect they are using the bill to further
complicate Ankara’s already uphill struggle to join the European Union.

The majority of French people are opposed to Turkey joining the 25-nation
bloc and fears over its potential membership was given as one of the reasons
why France voted last year to reject the EU constitution.

"(This vote) can only worsen prospects for EU accession and will move the
Turkish population even further away from pro-EU sentiment," said Lars
Christensen with Danske Bank in Denmark.

"We have long been optimistic that Turkey will become an EU member, but
we’re moving in the wrong direction, which will really affect markets," he
added.

Both outgoing President Chirac and Socialist presidential frontrunner
Segolene Royal say Turkey must acknowledge the genocide before joining the
EU, while conservative frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy is opposed to its EU
entry under any conditions.

But government ministers fear that the Armenia vote will have an immediate
impact on trade with Turkey, with French exports to Turkey worth
4.66billion euros ($5.85 billion) in 2005.

"Liberty, Equality, Stupidity," Turkish daily Hurriyet said in a headline on
Thursday, reflecting widespread Turkish anger and irritation over the vote.