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Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News
France passes Armenian genocide bill
by UPI, 18 Jan 2001
Posted: Saturday, January 20, 2001 04:02 am CST
Turkey recalled its top diplomat in Paris for "consultations"
Thursday, after the French parliament adopted legislation
condemning the 1915 killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians
as a genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire. The legislation,
first proposed by French Socialist lawmakers in 1998, was passed by
the Senate late last year. Despite opposition from the French
government, which attempted to block the legislation for fear of
deteriorating relations with Ankara, it is now almost certain to
become law. In a statement released by Turkey's embassy in Paris,
the Turkish government attacked the legislation as a "grave error
on history by adopting this resolution." It said it had recalled
its ambassador, Sonmez Koksal, "for consultations." "Despite
repeated warnings, French Parliament has fallen into a grave
mistake of accepting the so-called Armenian genocide allegations,"
the statement said. "Turkey while strongly condemning the
allegations of genocide which it never had committed, rejects the
resolution passed by the French Assembly with all its
implications." The French legislation might endanger diplomatic
relations with France, the statement warned, and provoke "a serious
crisis" between the two countries. The decision to recall the
ambassador is the first step to display Ankara's anger at the
resolution, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said. They said the
decision would be followed by a protest note to France and freezing
of diplomatic and economic relations. Unless a dramatic change
takes place in the coming days, Turkey might diplomatically request
that French ambassador in Ankara be withdrawn, a Turkish official
said. Last October, the U.S. House of Representatives shelved a
similar Armenian genocide bill. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent
Ecevit said it was impossible for Turkey to put up with the
decision. He said certain measures were on the way to show
Turkey's displeasure. France is one of Turkey's largest supplier
of arms. In a related development, Ankara Trade Association
chairman urged a boycott of French goods in Turkey. Turkey
maintains the Armenians were killed during a legitimate war, in
which both Turks and Armenians were slain. Even the numbers of
Armenians killed are under dispute. Armenians claim some 1.5
million people were killed during massacres between 1915 and 1917,
while the Turkish government puts the figure at hundreds of
thousands. The legislation has gained popularity among French
lawmakers partly for electoral reasons -- the legislative vote is
scheduled for 2002 -- and partly for sentimental ones, analysts
said. Some Armenian survivors of the killings were rescued by
French troops. France is home to a sizeable Armenian community,
with some of the largest populations clustered in the Paris suburbs
and in Marseilles. -- (Seva Ulman contributed from Ankara, Turkey)
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