Local Editor
Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Paris in protest at a decision by the French parliament to back a law banning denial of the Armenian genocide, a spokesman for the embassy said Thursday.Tahsin Burcuoglu will leave France on Friday, while further measures in response to the vote will be announced in Turkey by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, spokesman Engin Solakoglu told media sources.
The ambassador was to give a news conference at 6:00pm local time (17:00 GMT) in Paris.
A French bill banning the denial of Armenian genocide was a "betrayal of history", Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said Thursday on his Twitter account.
"I condemn the French parliament, which passed this bill meaning betrayal of history and historical truth," Arinc said.
Earlier, the French National Assembly voted to back a law that would make it illegal for anyone in France to deny that the 1915 killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during World War I amounted to genocide.
Turkey had already announced that it would withdraw its ambassador if the law was approved, and Ankara has threatened a broader raft of diplomatic and trade sanctions in the coming days.
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France genocide law ruptures Turkish ties
Published Thursday, December 22, 2011
Turkey has recalled its envoy to Paris after French lawmakers passed into law a ban on the denial of the Armenian genocide on Thursday.
The law has ruptured relations between two key NATO allies, with Turkish Ambassador Tahsin Burcuoglu leaving France on Friday as Ankara considers further measures in response to the French move, spokesman Engin Solakoglu said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the law opened "irreparable wounds" between the two nations, cancelling permission for French military planes to land on Turkish soil, and the French navy from docking in Turkish ports.
Ruling party lawmakers were determined to pass the bill that incriminates the denial of the Armenian genocide committed by Turkish Ottoman forces almost a century ago.
"We're not trying to write history but to make an indispensable political act," Patrick Devedjian, a lawmaker of Armenian descent, told parliament.
“Turkey is falling into revisionism and denies its own history," he claimed, suggesting that Turkey had recognized in 1919 that crimes had been committed.
The debate began under intense security, after around 4,000 Turkish expatriates gathered outside parliament to protest the vote and denounce the dark periods in France's own history.
The law punishes the denial of any massacre acknowledged as a genocide by the state that so far only includes the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide.
It imposes a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for those who break the law.
Turkey threatened diplomatic and trade sanctions if France went ahead with the genocide law, accusing Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party of pandering to France's large Armenian community ahead of elections next year.
Ankara also threatened a similar response highlighting French crimes against humanity during its colonial era.
Turkey criticized the French law as an attack on freedom of expression and historical inquiry as its ruling and opposition parties collectively denounced it as a "grave, unacceptable, and historic mistake."
A breakdown in Franco-Turkish relations could hinder French hopes of closer cooperation with Ankara on Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian crisis, and a desire to tap into Turkey's large market.
Despite general bipartisan support from the UMP and Socialists, some MPs spoke out against the law.
"It's in no one's interests to pour oil on the fire in this fragile, sensitive, and strategic region," said Michel Diefenbacher, head of parliament's Franco-Turkish friendship committee.
"What would we say, we French, if some other country came and told us what it thinks about the Vendee massacre?" he demanded, referring to mass killings in the 1790s in western France in the wake of the French Revolution.
Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Turkey was preparing to impose sanctions on France, in a sign that Ankara expected the bill to pass.
"Tomorrow probably I will announce what we will do at the first stage and we will announce what kind of sanctions we will have at the second and third stages," he said.
Armenia welcomed the move, with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian thanking France for recognizing the genocide.
“I would like to once again express my gratitude to France's top leadership, to the National Assembly, and to the French people," he said.
"By adopting this law, [France] has yet again confirmed that a crime against humanity has no statute of limitation and that its denial must be unambiguously condemned," Nalbandian added.
Roughly 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent live in France, forming a crucial source of support for Sarkozy and the UMP ahead of presidential and legislative elections in April and June next year.
The number of deaths is disputed by both Armenians and Turkey, with Armenia estimating 1.5 million people were killed. Turkey counters this claim, arguing only 500,000 people died and deny it was systematic genocide. Turkey claims the deaths occurred due to Armenians aligning with Russia during World War I.
Despite a souring of relations and Sarkozy's open opposition to Turkish membership in the EU, economic ties between the two countries remain strong, with bilateral trade worth 12 billion euros per year and roughly 1,000 French firms operating in Turkey.
(AFP, al-Akhbar)
The law has ruptured relations between two key NATO allies, with Turkish Ambassador Tahsin Burcuoglu leaving France on Friday as Ankara considers further measures in response to the French move, spokesman Engin Solakoglu said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the law opened "irreparable wounds" between the two nations, cancelling permission for French military planes to land on Turkish soil, and the French navy from docking in Turkish ports.
Ruling party lawmakers were determined to pass the bill that incriminates the denial of the Armenian genocide committed by Turkish Ottoman forces almost a century ago.
"We're not trying to write history but to make an indispensable political act," Patrick Devedjian, a lawmaker of Armenian descent, told parliament.
“Turkey is falling into revisionism and denies its own history," he claimed, suggesting that Turkey had recognized in 1919 that crimes had been committed.
The debate began under intense security, after around 4,000 Turkish expatriates gathered outside parliament to protest the vote and denounce the dark periods in France's own history.
The law punishes the denial of any massacre acknowledged as a genocide by the state that so far only includes the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide.
It imposes a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for those who break the law.
Turkey threatened diplomatic and trade sanctions if France went ahead with the genocide law, accusing Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party of pandering to France's large Armenian community ahead of elections next year.
Ankara also threatened a similar response highlighting French crimes against humanity during its colonial era.
Turkey criticized the French law as an attack on freedom of expression and historical inquiry as its ruling and opposition parties collectively denounced it as a "grave, unacceptable, and historic mistake."
A breakdown in Franco-Turkish relations could hinder French hopes of closer cooperation with Ankara on Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian crisis, and a desire to tap into Turkey's large market.
Despite general bipartisan support from the UMP and Socialists, some MPs spoke out against the law.
"It's in no one's interests to pour oil on the fire in this fragile, sensitive, and strategic region," said Michel Diefenbacher, head of parliament's Franco-Turkish friendship committee.
"What would we say, we French, if some other country came and told us what it thinks about the Vendee massacre?" he demanded, referring to mass killings in the 1790s in western France in the wake of the French Revolution.
Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Turkey was preparing to impose sanctions on France, in a sign that Ankara expected the bill to pass.
"Tomorrow probably I will announce what we will do at the first stage and we will announce what kind of sanctions we will have at the second and third stages," he said.
Armenia welcomed the move, with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian thanking France for recognizing the genocide.
“I would like to once again express my gratitude to France's top leadership, to the National Assembly, and to the French people," he said.
"By adopting this law, [France] has yet again confirmed that a crime against humanity has no statute of limitation and that its denial must be unambiguously condemned," Nalbandian added.
Roughly 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent live in France, forming a crucial source of support for Sarkozy and the UMP ahead of presidential and legislative elections in April and June next year.
The number of deaths is disputed by both Armenians and Turkey, with Armenia estimating 1.5 million people were killed. Turkey counters this claim, arguing only 500,000 people died and deny it was systematic genocide. Turkey claims the deaths occurred due to Armenians aligning with Russia during World War I.
Despite a souring of relations and Sarkozy's open opposition to Turkish membership in the EU, economic ties between the two countries remain strong, with bilateral trade worth 12 billion euros per year and roughly 1,000 French firms operating in Turkey.
(AFP, al-Akhbar)
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