Turkey Recalls its Ambassador to France, Hints at Boycott

Turkey’s prime minister says his country is recalling its ambassador to France and halting official contact in retaliation for a vote in the French Parliament making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide.

“We are recalling our ambassador in Paris to Ankara for consultations,” Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.

“As of now, we are canceling bilateral level political, economic and military activities,” he said. “We are suspending all kinds of political consultations with France” and “bilateral military cooperation, joint maneuvers are canceled as of now.”

It was clear long before the vote — easily passed with a show of hands — that France was on a collision course with Turkey. Ankara had threatened to remove Ambassador Tahsin Burcuoğlu (pictured) if French lawmakers did not desist and warned of “grave consequences” to political and economic ties.

The French government has stressed that the bill, which mandates a 45,000-euro fine and a year in jail for offenders, is not its own initiative and pointed out that Turkey cannot impose unilateral trade sanctions.

“We have to remember international rules and with regard to Turkey it’s a member of the WTO (World Trade Organization) and is linked to the European Union by a customs union and these two commitments mean a non-discriminatory policy towards all companies within the European Union,” said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.

The Turkish government has ruled out an embargo, but has hinted at a boycott. “There will be an effect on consumer preferences,” said Turkish Industry Minister Nihat Ergün.

When France passed a law recognizing the Armenian Genocide in 2001, Turkey was in the midst of an economic crisis, and reacted in a similar vein, but figures show trade between the two countries nevertheless grew steadily, Today’s Zaman reports.