Epress.am News from Armenia
A full-fledged Turkish campaign to convince French officials to prevent a bill that makes denial of the Armenian Genocide a crime punishable under French law has turned sour as the French legislature has put the bill on the agenda, allowing a vote on Thursday to decide on the fate of both the denial bill and Turkish-French relations, Today’s Zaman reports.
“To say the least, it is insensitive to distort history for political motives, to make judgments about the history of a country through parliament, a political institution,” Turkish President Abdullah Gül said in a written statement on Tuesday. Gül urged France to “retract the initiative as soon as possible.” Gül criticized the bill as “unfair and groundless,” as he repeated Ankara’s claims that the French move was a political tool for votes ahead of elections. “I hope that France will not sacrifice the centuries-old Turkish-French friendship, mutual benefits and ties of alliance for petty political calculations,” Gül added.
“The bill is as big a catastrophe as the Mavi Marmara raid that crumbled Turkish-Israeli relations,” diplomatic sources told Today’s Zaman, as they raised doubts regarding the future of diplomatic ties between Turkey and France. The analogy hinted that Turkey is now poising to withdraw Tahsin Burcuoğlu, ambassador to France, as it withdrew its ambassador in Tel Aviv following an Israeli raid targeting the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship, aboard which nine peace activists were killed.
While Burcuoğlu readies to leave for Turkey for “consultations with Ankara on an indefinite period,” sources note that the bill, once passed on to the senate for ratification after Thursday’s vote, could seriously damage diplomacy between Ankara and Paris, and lead to a reduction in diplomatic contact at the level of deputy ambassadors, if it receives senate approval in the wake of French presidential elections.
Ankara officially regards the genocide denial bill a political tool utilized by France for its election benefits, therefore alarming various political, business and civil society delegations from the country to set out for Paris with hopes to avert a likely political crisis from erupting between the countries after the bill’s passage.
Leading the government’s delegation to Paris, Volkan Bozkır, head of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, expressed Turkey’s frustration with the bill, allegedly triggered by strictly political motives. “We are hoping that the Senate will stop the bill with a vote on Feb. 22,” Bozkır told reporters from Paris, before he met with French foreign minister, Alain Juppe, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s political advisor, Jean Levitte, on Tuesday.
In response to French lawmakers’ claims that Turkey would not act on its pledges and strike economic and diplomatic ties with the country, much like in 2001 when France recognized the Armenian Genocide, Bozkır stated that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was not in power back in 2001, signaling that the current government was serious in its pledge for retaliation and a “heavy toll” on France.
Following the French proposal to make it punishable in France to deny the genocide, both the Turkish foreign ministry and prominent business circles that are engaged in contact with French businesses operating in or with Turkey warned them of the unpleasant consequences of the bill’s passage. Increasing the tone of warning to French companies, Turkish Tradesmen’s and Artisans’ Confederation (TESK) Chairperson Bendevi Palandöken warned on Tuesday that the bill, if it passes in the Senate, would “backfire on France,” as he pledged that French products would be “removed from the shelves” in Turkey, Anka news agency reported.
Estimating the trade volume between Turkey and France at 13.5 billion euros, Bozkır warned that the bill jeopardizes French investments in Turkey, amounting to 6.5 billion euros, and risking the profits of nearly 2,000 French companies conducting business with Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.
In a reaction to the bill, roughly around 100 Turkish civil society organizations (CSO) operating in Paris gathered on Sunday at the Turkish mission in the city and started a committee to organize a walk of protest on Thursday. The CSOs are planning to gather in front of the French Parliament on Thursday morning to protest the denial bill and thousands of Turks from various cities in France are expected to join in the demonstration.
Addressing representatives of participating CSOs, Ambassador Burcuoğlu describes the bill “a stain” on Turkish society, targeting the Turkish community living in France. “We are worried that Turks in France might suffer from serious legal problems,” Burcuoğlu said, with foresight that the bill’s passage would allow for the punishment of Turks if they refuse to call the Ottoman era killings of Armenians a genocide.
Photo of French Parliament: daylife