European Forum

Turkish PM Erdogan ‘Genocide bill is racist’

On 24 January the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in parliament that the bill passed by the French parliament on the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule is a result of "racist and discriminatory" attitudes toward Turkey. According to the PM the bill is murdering the freedom of thought, also Erdoğan claimed the bill is a stunt by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to garner support in the upcoming presidential elections, that will be held in April 2012, from the 500,000 or so ethnic Armenians residing in France.

Genocide bill
On 23 January a bill to outlaw denial of the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1915, was approved by 127 votes to 86 in the French upper house. Anyone caught denying the Armenian genocide, or the Nazi Holocaust, can face up to one year in prison and a €45,000 fine. President Sarkozy is widely expected to ratify the new measure in February in a move that Turkey said it would punish with "permanent sanctions if it is passed to law."

Before the Senate debate began, rival demonstrations – one pro-Turkish and one pro-Armenian – gathered outside the upper house of Parliament, waving flags and blowing whistles. Around 15,000 Turks from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg rallied peacefully on the streets of Paris on Jan. 21 to protest the law.

'Footsteps of fascism'
After the bill was adopted by the French Senate Erdoğan stated "This is a racist and discriminatory approach and if you cannot see this, then you are deaf to the footsteps of fascism in Europe." The proposed law had been made more general - outlawing the denial of any genocide recognised by the French law- but still failed to appease Ankara. According to Erdoğan the Turkish government would impose unspecified sanctions against France if the bill is signed into law by President Sarkozy.

The exact measures of these sanctions are until now undetermined, but according to the Turkish PM the passing of this bill could mean a total break between the two NATO countries. Tahsin Burcuoglu, Turkey's ambassador to France, said the bill was a "sensitive issue" that could prompt Ankara to downgrade diplomatic ties with Paris.

Turkey might be in a difficult position if other EU countries follow in adopting a similar law in the future. This will affect the relationship between Turkey and the European Union a great deal. According to the liberal Turks the bill also squanders European values such as freedom of speech.

'Written in gold'
Armenia, meanwhile, praised the vote, with Edward Nalbandian, the country's foreign minister, saying: "This day will be written in gold, not only in the history of friendship between the Armenian and the French people, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of human rights worldwide."

Sources: EUobserver, Hurriyet Daily, Aljazeera, NRC (Dutch)
Image Flickr by Pablo Manriquez