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Latest update: 01/02/2012
- France - Turkey
Turkey welcomes appeal of ‘genocide’ law
Some 130 French parliamentarians have lodged an appeal with the country’s constitutional court to overturn a controversial bill that would criminalise denying that the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in Turkey was genocide.
By Tony Todd (text)
Turkey on Wednesday welcomed an appeal by some 130 French lawmakers for the Constitutional Court to overturn a law that would criminalise genocide denial in France.
The draft law, which was passed by the Senate in January, includes the mass killing of ethnic Armenians in Turkey in 1915, an event that was officially recognised as genocide by France in 2001.
The bill was given final parliamentary approval by the Senate on January 23, prompting Ankara to cut all military, political and economic ties with France.
Only President Nicolas Sarkozy’s signature is needed for the bill to become law.
However, it can still be blocked if judges decide it is unconstitutional. The court has one month to make its ruling.
Engin Solakoglu, spokesman for the Turkish Ambassador to Paris, told FRANCE 24 that Turkey was “greatly encouraged” by the appeal.
“This is the only hope we have to save French-Turkish relations,” he said. “Of course having the support of 130 lawmakers, a significant part of the French political class, is a good thing. Overall we are greatly encouraged.
“But if this bill becomes law, it will be the end of French-Turkish relations.”
Freedom of expression
The French lawmakers, from both the lower National Assembly and the upper Senate, argue that the massacre of Armenians – which Turkey admits happened but insists was not a deliberate genocide – was an event that should be left to historians.
Jacques Myard, a member of the National Assembly for Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party, said the rebelling lawmakers accepted that both the Holocaust and the Armenian massacres constituted genocide.
But he said that the law was “clearly unconstitutional” and that upholding the right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in the French constitution, was more important that criminalising deniers.
“We should leave historians to be able to debate this issue freely,” he said. “And this law is a direct attack on that freedom.”
This argument was rejected by one historian, however, who insisted legislation to outlaw genocide denial was necessary and accused the rebelling MPs of “dishonesty”.
Yves Ternon, author of “Wars and Genocides of the 20th century”, said he was “absolutely convinced that this bill should be passed into law.”
“Historians have already established that it was genocide, and while the law criminalises outright denial, it does not threaten in any way a proper historical debate,” he said.
Electoral expediency?
Turkey has accused Sarkozy of using the law to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians living in France ahead May’s presidential election.
However, both France’s Socialist Party, which has a majority in the upper house, and Sarkozy’s UMP party, which put forward the bill, supported the legislation.
Armenians, backed by many historians and parliaments, say some 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during the First World War in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.
Successive Turkish governments - and the vast majority of Turks - feel the charge of genocide is a direct insult to their nation.
Ankara argues there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the area after the Armenians sided with invading Russians, and that the killings should be seen in the context of a World War.
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If it was genocide, then every major European power is guilty
as well.
It is the revisionist and false to extend it backwards in time to assign guilt to various powers of prior eras in which what we call genocide was a common part of warfare or any conflict between two nations.
WWI was the last war of an era marked by many "genocides" if we accept the term is appropriate for the conflict between Armenians and Turks.
A great example is the Irish Potato, which famine fits the definition of genocide almost perfectly.
British politicians of the day speak derisively about the Irish and the need to eliminate the "Irish" problem, which meant the Irish people, not just the Irish resistance.
Towards this goal, the British instituted various trade policies and restrictions that ensured mass famine when the potato crops began to fail.
The British refused to send aid, and via economic policy prevented other entities from providing the aid
The result was millions of Irish people dead.
Yet the British aren't accused of genocide, hmmm.
The concept of genocide is a recent invention, and meant primarily to define what happened to Jews during world war II in which otherwise loyal non-military civilian citizens were targeted for extermination simply because they were Jewish.
Gypsies were similarly persecuted.
Other ethnic/religious groups also died in the millions, yet those deaths are NOT included in the charges against the German perpetrators as part of the genocide, because it was in the context of a war between nations - the Germans vs. the Poles vs. the Russians vs. the British vs. the French and so on.
The conflict between the Turks and Armenians fits into the latter category.
It was a direct result of war.
Had there been no war, Armenians would not have been the victims of this, because they would never have picked up arms against the dying Ottoman empire at the urging of the French.
Most certainly what the Turks did was harsh, but it was an extension of WWI, a war noted for barbarity and futile mass death.
If Turkey is guilty of genocide, than both sides in WWI are equally guilty considering the # of dead that was often justified by with near identical military reasoning the Turks used in their war with the Armenians in their failed war of independence.
End Relations with Turkey!
Turkey is genocidal country that will continue to kill their own people.
Gaston Gaillard and the Turks
The French Historian Gaston Gaillard published a book titled “ (Les Turcs et l’Europe) – The Turks and Europe” by the publishing house Chapelot in 1920. This book was never published again. Why? There he describes in detail what we can summarize “the plan to drive Turks to Asia”. The book gives fresh and independent accounts of Ottoman-Armenian problem as part of the Eastern Problem. In the following years the Allied Powers (France, England) continued their efforts and caused this problem to get bigger. French people must ask themselves as to why there are 600,000 electorates of Armenian origin in France. Is it because France has borders with Armenia? I don’t think too many French politicians have given any thought to that.
YOU SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO THE ARMENIANS
I don’t think they have read the book of Justin McCarthy (“Death and Exile”) or the documents “Archives des Affaires Etrangères de France, Levant, Arménie. 1918-1919” mentioned in this book. France which had occupied Cilicia, the south-central part of Turkey had lured/cheated the Armenians from November 1, 1918 onwards promising them an Armenian state in that occupied region. First France set up army troops made up of Armenian volunteers. Later 200,000 more Armenians arrived from USA, Egypt, Syria and France lured by this promise and an Armenian legion was established reporting to the French Eastern Legion. This special legion was given French army uniforms and weaponry. (Earlier the Czarist Russia had acted the same way in 1914-1915 in Eastern Anatolia) The said army legion carried out immense massacres which continued until 1921. The local people still describe these (for France shameful) days as “Kaç-Kaç” (“Run-Run”) period of the region. The French should ask the famous writer Yaşar Kemal who grew up in that region and is among the most selling writers in France!
On October 20, 1921 France and the new Parliament in Ankara signed a peace agreement and French troops withdrew to Syria and Lebanon and took 50,000 Armenians with them. Following this the remaining Armenians left behind out in the open went to Syria first and then to Lebanon and then to France. This is the story behind the 600,000 electorates of Armenian origin in France today still yearning the land promised by France!
Now I am asking you: who will apologize to whom, Mr. Sarkozy? Shouldn’t France apologize to the Armenians deceived by France? Shouldn’t France apologize to the families of Turkish descendants massacred by the Armenians brought in by the French, dressed in French army uniforms using French guns? When shall France who describes the benefits of colonialism in its school books today face up to its own history? Of course, without distorting historical facts and the history of Turkey and without selling itself and Turkey!
Turkey needs to come to term
Turkey needs to come to term with its history, as Germany has done.
False Armenian genocide
Turkey should not be forced to accept a theory which has not yet been proven in any just way (i.e.careful consideration of both sides of the argument). Particularly as there is ample evidence to prove that the Turks have a point well worth considering! For example, at the end of WWI, the Allies and the Armenians had their big chance of proving their theory of the events of 1915.The Ottoman Archives were in the hands of the Allies for four (4) years after the war. They had ample time to examine the archives of the Ottoman government, and they did examine them. They found no evidence to support their charges.
CRY CRY
All the time Turks killed some nations, others did not kill Turks in wars, generally Turks suiciding themself :), i bored thsese lies and really i dont care about stupid law in france or eu. We are not in eu and WE DONT WANT, we aint ASIA
French Law
A truer version of 1915: "Who do the French think they're kidding? They committed genocide in Algeria (they murdered over one million Algerians), had a role in the genocide of the Native Americans, had a role in the slave trade, had a role in the genocide in Rwanda, etc. Bernard Lewis, Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University on C-SPAN at the National Press Club in Washington, DC: ? This is a question of definition and nowadays the word "genocide" is used very loosely even in cases where no bloodshed is involved at all and I can understand the annoyance of those who feel refused. But in this particular case, the point that was being made was that the massacre of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was the same as what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany and that is a downright falsehood. What happened to the Armenians was the result of a massive Armenian armed rebellion against the Turks, which began even before war broke out, and continued on a larger scale. Great numbers of Armenians, including members of the armed forces, deserted, crossed the frontier and joined the Russian forces invading Turkey. Armenian rebels actually seized the city of Van and held it for a while intending to hand it over to the invaders. There was guerilla warfare all over Anatolia. And it is what we nowadays call the National Movement of Armenians Against Turkey. The Turks certainly resorted to very ferocious methods in repelling it. There is clear evidence of a decision by the Turkish Government, to deport the Armenian population from the sensitive areas which meant naturally the whole of Anatolia. Not including the Arab provinces which were then still part of the Ottoman Empire. There is no evidence of a decision to massacre. On the contrary, there is considerable evidence of attempt to prevent it, which was not very successful. Yes there were tremendous massacres, the numbers are very uncertain but a million nay may well be likely. The massacres were carried out by irregulars, by local villagers responding to what had been done to them and in number of other ways. But to make this, a parallel with the holocaust in Germany, you would have to assume the Jews of Germany had been engaged in an armed rebellion against the German state, collaborating with the allies against Germany. That in the deportation order the cities of Hamburg and Berlin were exempted, persons in the employment of state were exempted, and the deportation only applied to the Jews of Germany proper, so that when they got to Poland they were welcomed and sheltered by the Polish Jews. This seems to me a rather absurd parallel.".
Freedom of expression in france :)
LIE !
turkey's kurd genocide
turkey makes kurd genocide todat also.turkey uses napalm and chemical bombs easily to kill kurd people.but the west countries only show.5-10 kurd gentilmen are killed in every day by turk troops and racist polices.every week 100-200 kurd literates are been prisoned without any justice.todat the total of prisoned kurd is about 100000.most of them are politicians, parliamentariens,mayors,professors, teachers,lawyers,journalists,students and childeren.turkey has been a 'şeriat'country like iran.erdoğan is a dictator.erdoğan congratulated chief of staff rather than sorry when 34 kurd childeren are killed by turk air strict near the bourd of irakien kurdistan bourd.
I am sorry, this law was not
I am sorry, this law was not correct, I have right to agree or disagree with the history, this is my freedom in France, France who gave the World democracy can not go back to middle ages and put person in jail for what they belive in, armenians should take their fight ti Turks and leave our democracy alone, armenia controled by 5 person Mafia type individuals and Turks have this arrogant leader Erdogan, but we in France have the oldest Democracy, and we really do not care what happaned 100 years ago,all Armenians and Turks are guests in our country but not here to change our freedom of speech.