FRANCE: Turkish residents protest against draft law to make it illegal to deny that mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was genocide

Record ID: 327661

  • Title: FRANCE: Turkish residents protest against draft law to make it illegal to deny that mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was genocide
  • Date: 23rd December 2011
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 22, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND POLICE PROTESTERS ARRIVING TURKISH RESIDENTS IN FRANCE PROTESTING IN FRONT OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PROTESTERS BEHIND SECURITY FENCE CHEERING BANNERS READING "HISTORY SHOULD NOT BE USED BY POLITICIANS" AND "FREEDOM OF SPEECH WAS BEFORE SARKOZY" VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BEHIND SECURITY FENCE CHEERING POLICE SECURITY INFRONT OF PROTESTERS PROTESTERS WITH FRENCH AND TURKISH FLAGS SHOUTING (SOUNDBITE) (FRENCH) TURKISH RESIDENT IN GRENOBLE IN FRANCE HAYTEN DOGAN SAYING: "It's not France's problem, it's an issue for Turkey, and it's the job of historians to deal with it, not the politicians, the historians." BANNER READING "NO TO A TOTALITARIAN REPUBLIC" (SOUNDBITE) (FRENCH) TURKISH RESIDENT IN GRENOBLE IN FRANCE HAYTEN DOGAN SAYING: "I think it's because of the forthcoming elections it's to gain the ballots of the Armenians, but we get along very well with the Armenians, there is nothing there, we get on with them very well." PROTESTERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) YILDIZ HAMZA, A 60 YEAR OLD FRENCHMAN OF TURKISH ORIGIN AND HEAD OF A ORGANISATION GATHERING 700 TURKISH FAMILIES IN MONTARGIS, SOUTH OF FRANCE, SAYING: "As a French citizen, I don't understand. Why would France want to ban me from talking about a part of history which belongs to the past, why would they stop me speaking of it?" VARIOUS OF TURKISH RESIDENTS IN FRANCE PROTESTING TURKISH FLAG PROTESTERS CHANTING BANNER READING "LEAVE HISTORY TO THE HISTORIANS" PROTESTERS WITH TURKISH FLAGS SHOUTING FOR "LIBERTY OF EXPRESSION" OUTSIDE THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
  • Embargoed: 7th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Crime,International Relations,History,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2NG17OPRCDZ9U7BMMQJR5BK6C
  • Story Text: In a move that is likely to strain relations between France and Turkey, France's lower house of parliament was on Thursday (December 22) expected to vote on a bill that would outlaw denial of genocide, including the killing of Armenians in 1915.
    According to police 3,000 Turkish people from all over France protested outside the National Assembly where parliament were meeting. Several thousand more were expected later in the day.
    The bill is a general measure that would make denial of all genocide a crime, punishable by one year in jail and a 45,000-euro fine. But it has particularly upset the Turkish government, which has threatened to withdraw its ambassador if the bill, a privately-sponsored affair, makes it onto the statute books.
    But French residents of Turkish origin living in France criticized the bill, saying it is politically motivated to try and rally votes for President Nicolas Sarkozy's party. Patrick Devedjian, the member of parliament who is co-signatory of the bill, belongs to President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party.
    "It's not France's problem, it's an issue for Turkey, and it's the job of historians to deal with it, not the politicians, the historians," said one Turkish woman living in Grenoble, Haytem Dogan.
    "I think it's because of the forthcoming elections it's to gain the ballots of the Armenians, but we get along very well with the Armenians, there is nothing there, we get on with them very well," she went on.
    "As a French citizen, I don't understand. Why would France want to ban me from talking about a part of history which belongs to the past, why would they stop me speaking of it?" asked another man, Yildiz Hamza who had come from the south of France for the demonstration.
    In Turkey, authorities have warned France their political and economic relations would suffer grave consequences if the proposal is passed.
    Ahead of the protests in France, demonstrations against the bill have been held in Ankara and Istanbul.
    The debate reopens a sore wound dating back to 2001, when France voted into law a bill that officially recognised what happened in Armenia as a genocide.
    Ankara denies that the killings constitute genocide and says many Muslim Turks and Kurds were also put to death as Russian troops invaded eastern Anatolia, often aided by Armenian militias.
    Although it does not have the backing of the French government, political commentators say it stands a good chance of making it through the Chamber of Deputies. The upper house of parliament, the Senate, is controlled by the centre-left and is likely to ratify it onto the statute books if it makes it through the National Assembly. The French Foreign Ministry has stressed the draft law is not a government initiative.
    Turkey and Armenia signed a peace accord in 2009, agreeing to set up a commission of international experts to examine the events of 1915, restore diplomatic ties and open their border to trade, but neither side ratified the deal.
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