France Sparks Uproar with Genocide Bill
Turkey and others infuriated by law criminalizing denial of First World War expulsion, execution of Armenians
By Susan Sachs
October 12th, 2006
PARIS — French politicians are galloping into diplomatic quicksand with a proposal to imprison anyone who publicly denies that the Turkish massacre of Armenians a century ago constituted genocide.
The draft law, to be debated by the National Assembly today, was submitted by the opposition Socialist Party and has strong support among those on the political right who hope to derail Turkey’s candidacy for European Union membership.
Members of France’s 400,000-strong Armenian diaspora, whose votes are important to all sides in next spring’s presidential election, have lobbied for years to criminalize negating their genocide, just as it is a crime in France to deny the Holocaust.
But the proposed law, which would also require the French Senate’s approval, has caused an uproar outside France and discomfort in some unexpected quarters.
Turkey has warned that French companies will be barred from bidding on billions of dollars worth of government contracts if the law is approved. The Armenian government has kept silent on the proposal, saying its goal is to secure recognition of the genocide by Turkey. The European Union’s enlargement commissioner has pleaded with the French to abandon the bill, saying it would only undermine those Turks and Armenians promoting a dialogue over their conflicting versions of history.
More surprising has been the reaction of Armenian community leaders inside Turkey who have been fighting for greater freedom of speech at home.
They said France would do more harm than good by outlawing the expression of unpopular views. (….Full Article Here)
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