Tag: denial of Armenian Genocide

Turkey Freezes All Diplomatic Relations With France Over Armenian Genocide

Turkey Freezes All Diplomatic Relations With France Over Armenian Genocide

by sheikyermami on January 25, 2012

Ihsanoglu Meltdown

OIC claims that adoption of genocide law is a sign of Islamophobia in France

I am not in favor of laws restricting the freedom of speech, but this response from the OIC is consistent with its own attempts to restrict truth-telling about Islam and jihad under the guise of criminalizing “religious hatred.” Note also that by labeling the French law an example of “Islamophobia,” Ihsanoglu is tacitly admitting that the Armenian genocide was an Islamic jihad action; otherwise, what would Islam have to do with this law at all?

Mohammedan Slaughter Cannot Be Genocide Because Allah Wills it:

OIC Top Dog Ihsanoghlu & Sudan’s Genocidal Tyrant Bashir

“OIC: Adoption of genocide law sign of Islamophobia in France,” by A. Taghiyeva for Trend, January 24:

The adoption of the law criminalizing the denial of the so-called “Armenian Genocide” is a sign of Islamophobia in France, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told Trend on Tuesday.“This law contradicts three fundamental principles of democracy — equality, freedom and brotherhood. It is a sign of growing Islamophobia,” Ihsanoglu said.

He called the law unacceptable, non-complying with historical facts and demonstrating double standards.

It always cracks me up when a muselmaniac tries to lecture us by our own values that we should commit collective suicide……

Related:

Erdogan huffs and puffs:

“This policy is based on racism, discrimination and xenophobia,” thundered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday….

After a nearly eight-hour debate, the French Senate adopted the bill. Some 127 senators voted in favor, while 86 senators voted against on Jan.23.

The lower house of the French parliament adopted a bill criminalising the denial of the so-called “genocide” on Dec.22. Some 45 out of 577 French MPs voted with 38 voting for and seven against the adoption of the bill.

The bill demands a year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euro for denying the so-called “genocide.” In response to the decision, Turkey announced that it has frozen all diplomatic relations with France.

MPs from the French president’s Union for Popular Movement (UMP) party, which has the parliamentary majority, proposed the bill aimed at criminalising the denial of the so-called “genocide” to the legislative committee of the National Assembly in early December.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the Turkey – Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against the Armenians living in Anadolu, and achieved recognition of the “Armenian Genocide” by the parliaments of several countries.

via Turkey Freezes All Diplomatic Relations With France Over Armenian Genocide — Winds Of Jihad By SheikYerMami.

January 26, 2012
Turkey Warns France over ‘Racist’ Genocide Bill

Turkey is urging French President Nicolas Sarkozy not to sign a bill that would make it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago constituted genocide.

France’s parliament approved the genocide bill late Monday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the decision “racist,” and within hours of the vote his countrymen were reacting.

“I condemn France. I’m boycotting all things French and I’m not buying any French products,” said Recep Ayanoglu, a resident of Istanbul.

“I think our country should retaliate for this action,” Istanbul teacher Irfan Canturk added.

Historians say around 1.5 million Christians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War I, and was the 20th Century’s first genocide.

Armenians claim the 1915 killings were part of a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman Turk government.

Turkey has denied the charge for years and has said many Turks also died as the Ottoman Turk Empire disintegrated.

In Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, citizens awoke Tuesday morning to the news that the French had voted 127-86 to pass the bill.

“This day will be written in gold not only in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French peoples, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of human rights worldwide,” said Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

Under the measure, anyone who denies the killings were genocide will be jailed up to a year and fined around $57,000.

Twenty countries including Germany, Sweden, Russia and Canada recognize the violent acts in 1915 as genocide. Forty-three U.S. states have done so as well.

The bill requires Sarkozy’s signature in the next 15 days to become law.

via Turkey Warns France over ‘Racist’ Genocide Bill – World – CBN News – Christian News 24-7 – CBN.com.

January 26, 2012
Turkey Slams France Over ‘Genocide’ Bill

By JOE PARKINSON and NADYA MASIDLOVER

ISTANBUL—Turkey denounced French lawmakers as racist and vowed to retaliate Tuesday after the French parliament approved a bill making it a crime to deny that the 1915 massacre of Armenians was genocide, marking the latest salvo in an increasingly toxic dispute between Ankara and Paris.

European Pressphoto Agency

Protesters in Paris Monday oppose a bill making it illegal to deny the 1915 killing of Armenians was genocide.

In a speech to lawmakers from his governing AK Party in parliament in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the bill as “discriminatory, racist and unjust.” Turkey would take a “step-by-step” approach to calculate its policy response, he added, suggesting Ankara would hold off from immediately imposing a raft of counter-measures to punish the French government.

The bill, which passed in the French Senate late Monday, is set to make genocide denial punishable by as much as a year in prison and a €45,000 ($58,572) fine for those found guilty. Ankara has always denied that the killings of Armenians in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide. Turkey argues the genocide issue should be left to historians to decide, rather than legislated by governments. France’s government says it is important to “take action against negationists.”

“We won’t let France gain credibility through this because their decision means nothing to us. Our sanctions will be disclosed step by step.” Mr. Erdogan said, to rapturous applause.

Analysts said the comments are likely to further strain fast-fraying diplomatic relations between France and Turkey and raise the prospect of a significant diplomatic rift between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. The dispute is also unnerving European Union diplomats who want to strengthen cooperation with Ankara amid Turkey’s increasingly influential role in relation to Syria’s uprising and Iran’s nuclear program.

“This is going to get complicated. France are usually big players in public tenders and weapons sales and they will now be completely excluded. This could get also get pretty ugly with protests at French companies. Diplomatically, there are a whole range of issues including Syria, Iran and elsewhere where the Turks may now be actively in opposition to the French position,” said Atilla Yesilada, a partner at Istanbul-based research firm Global Source Partners.

Mr. Erdogan’s pledge Tuesday to refrain from immediately unveiling new measures against Paris contrasted with his reaction in December when France’s lower house passed the bill. Within hours of the vote, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Paris and froze political and military relations.

Despite Ankara’s refusal give details on what counter-measures could be unveiled, Turkish media Tuesday speculated on how sanctions could affect business ties with France, Turkey’s seventh-biggest trading partner with $14.8 billion of goods exchanged last year. Popular daily Milliyet reported that Ankara was mulling moves to stop French companies bidding for government contracts, permanently recalling its ambassador to Paris and close Turkish waters and airspace to French ships and planes.

The prospect of measures that could target business activities appears to be unnerving some of France’s corporate leaders. The number of French companies operating in Turkey has mushroomed in recent years with familiar French businesses like supermarket chain Carrefour SA, insurance firm AXA SA and auto giant Renault SA all holding prominent market positions. Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault, which employs 12,000 workers in Turkey stressed in an interview with French radio Tuesday that; “Turkey has always worked well with French companies; I hope that this will not change.”

Earlier

French Bill’s Passage Sparks Turkish Anger

European Union-candidate country Turkey can’t impose direct economic sanctions on France, because of its membership in the World Trade Organization and customs-union agreement with Europe. But the row could cost France profitable bilateral business contracts.

Some Turkish officials say retaliatory measures are unlikely to be announced until President Nicolas Sarkozy signs the bill into law, which must happen within 15 days. Dissenting French lawmakers could yet successfully appeal to the constitutional court and scupper the bill passing into law, the officials said.

France’s Interior Minister Claude Gueant indicated Tuesday that the passing of the bill, which has the support of Mr. Sarkozy and the leader of the opposition Socialists Francoise Hollande, would be a formality.

“In a republic like ours, when parliament votes a bill, it is signed into law,” Mr. Gueant said in an interview with local cable TV news channel iTele.

There were signs Tuesday that some French policy makers were becoming nervous that the rift was spiraling out of hand. France’s Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who had earlier voiced opposition to the vote, played down the importance of the bill and urged the Turkish government to remain calm.

But the spat appears to have already aggravated the icy personal relationship between the French and Turkish leaders, embittered by Mr. Sarkozy’s vocal opposition to Turkey’s bid to join the EU. Mr. Erdogan said Tuesday that Mr. Sarkozy’s grandfather was an Ottoman Jew whose ancestors were banished during from Spain during the inquisition.

“Sarkozy cannot forget his past and cast a shadow over Ottoman tolerance,” Mr. Erdogan said.

via Turkey Slams France Over ‘Genocide’ Bill – WSJ.com.

January 25, 2012
French genocide bill discriminatory and racist

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: RIA Novosti

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday slammed as “discriminatory and racist” a French parliament bill making it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenian by Ottoman Turks nearly a century a century ago was genocide.

Erdogan said Turkey would implement measures against fellow NATO member France “step by step.”

French FM urges Turkey to play it cool

French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppé, has urged the Turkish authorities to keep cool over the law that Paris has recently adopted on responsibility denying the genocide of Armenians.

Juppé told the Canal Plus TV channel that France has a host of factories in Turkey, and that the two countries are linked by major trade and economic ties.

On Monday, the French Senate voted for adopting the draft law on criminal responsibility for denying the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Breaking the law will be punishable by a prison term of up to one year, or a fine of 45,000 euros.

Modern-day Turkey is a legal successor to the Ottoman Empire.

TRT, Turkey’s state-run broadcaster, said it plans to suspend its 15.5 percent partnership with Lyon-based Euronews if France approved the bill, Anatolia reported yesterday.

(Reuters, IF, TASS)

via French genocide bill discriminatory and racist: Turkey PM: Voice of Russia.

January 25, 2012
France Has Angered Turkey By Passing A Bill Recognizing The Armenian Genocide

In a historic move, the French Senate has passed a bill making it illegal to deny that the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915 Turkey was genocide, the AP reports.

Saskya Vandoorne, a CNN reporter in Paris, tweets that the final vote stood at 127 for, 86 against.

This controversial vote may have cause repercussions.

Earlier on Monday, Turkey threatened to impose more, “permanent” sanctions on France if the bill was passed by the Senate (the upper house), Turkey’s foreign minister told France 24. The bill had already received the seal of approval by an overwhelming majority in the lower National Assembly last month.

In what is seen as an attempt to appease Ankara, the draft law outlaws public denial of any genocide recognized by the French state (and not just that of the Armenians), Reuters reports. The bill — which will punish denial with a year’s jail and a fine of up to 45,000 euros ($58,000) — was supported by both the ruling conservatives and the opposition socialists.

France officially recognized the Armenian killings as genocide in 2001, joining 20 other countries in doing so. According to Armenian historians, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Turks during World War I, and their assets appropriated by Kemal Ataturk to establish the Turkish republic in 1923. Turkey claims only about 500,000 Armenians were killed in the context of the world war and an invasion by Russia, according to France 24.

The next step for the bill is for Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to ratify it before parliament is suspended in February. The bill can still be rejected by the country’s highest court if that body considers the text unconstitutional, according to Reuters.

Over the weekend, thousands of Turks from all over Europe protested the bill. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it impinged on freedom of expression. “This bill would punish me for having an opinion on an historical event. It goes against all European and French values of freedom of expression,” he told France 24.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has also accused France of committing its own genocide during the war in Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s.

While Turkey, a candidate for EU membership, may not be able to impose economic sanctions on France due to various accords and agreements, it will create diplomatic tension between the two NATO allies, especially given Turkey’s roles in the events unfolding in the Middle East. France-Turkey trade could also be impacted; according to CNN, it stands at $13.5 billion.

And Turkey does not make empty threats. When the genocide bill was passed by France’s lower house, Turkey briefly withdrew its Paris ambassador and froze military cooperation with France.

via France Has Angered Turkey By Passing A Bill Recognizing The Armenian Genocide.

January 24, 2012
Turkey warns French Socialists on genocide vote

PARIS, Jan 16: A senior Turkish diplomat warned France’s opposition Socialists that if they did not block a bill to make it illegal to deny the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottomon Turks, they could damage relations with Ankara after an election this year.

Lawmakers in the lower-house National Assembly voted overwhelmingly last month in favour of a draft law outlawing genocide denial, prompting Ankara to cancel all economic, political and military meetings with Paris and recall its ambassador for consultations.

The bill will be presented to the Senate on Jan. 23 for a final vote, with the process to be completed before parliament is suspended in February ahead of presidential elections.

The Socialist Party, which holds a majority in the Senate since elections in the upper house late last year, indicated last week that most left-wing senators would support it.

“The message we are trying to pass to the Socialist Party and Francois Hollande is that you’ll make a bad start with Turkey if you vote this,” Kaya Turkmen, director general for Europe at the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Reuters at the Turkish embassy.

Turkmen, who has previously served in Paris, is in the French capital until the vote next week, attempting to rally support against the vote.

The legislation was originally proposed by the Socialists in 2006 with the aim of specifically criminalising the denial of an Armenian genocide. The bill was made more general in 2011, partly in the hope of appeasing the Turks.

Hollande is the frontrunner to defeat President Nicolas Sarkozy in the two-round presidential election on April 22 and May 6. The bill will be a test of the party’s foreign policy programme, given that, unlike Sarkozy, it has previously backed bringing Turkey into the European Union.

Officials at the French Foreign Ministry were not immediately available to comment on Turkmen’s remarks.

Ankara sees the bill, proposed by 40 deputies from Sarkozy’s party, as a blatant attempt at winning the votes of some 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France and says it limits freedom of speech and meddles in a business best left to historians.

“The (Turkish) government is under pressure from public opinion,” Turkmen said. “If France does this, we have to punish it one way or another.”

The French government has stressed that the bill, which mandates a maximum 45,000-euro fine and a year in jail for offenders, had been put forward by lawmakers rather than itself.

Successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide is an insult to their nation. Ankara argues that there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the area.

If the bill passed, Ankara could again recall its ambassador, who returned to Paris earlier this month, and French firms could lose out on state-to-state contracts, Turkmen said.

Turkey could not impose economic sanctions, given its World trade Organisation membership and customs’ union accord with Europe. But a spat with France would create diplomatic tensions as Turkey takes an increasingly influential role in the Middle East, especially over Syria and Iran, Turkmen said.

“It won’t be business as usual,” he said.

via THE DAILY STAR :: News :: International :: Turkey warns French Socialists on genocide vote.

January 17, 2012