Turkey has blasted the French Senate's approval of a denial bill that is now one step closer to becoming a law that can punish anyone who says the Armenian deaths of 1915 did not constitute genocide, with its prime minister ruling the approval “null and void” for Turkey, while its president vowed Turkish-French ties would take a new, undesirable dimension.
“Making such a move for electoral gain does not suit a grand country such as France,” President Abdullah Gül on Tuesday said of the French Senate's decision that came late on Monday's night, straining even further the already frail Turkish-French ties.
The French Senate's approval of the bill that seeks to make it a crime for anyone to refuse to term the Armenian deaths in 1915 at the hands of Ottoman Turks as genocide is not the final step in the process of passing a bill as the law in France stipulates French President Nicolas Sarkozy needs to ratify it with his signature. Turkey, convinced that the mastermind of the bill was Sarkozy himself, believes he will ratify it, but hopes that it will be nullified by Constitutional Court, or that the decision will be appealed. “I am hoping that 60 senators will apply to the Constitutional Court to lift this shadow on French democracy,” Gül said, adding that Turkey still expects a change in the course of events that could save bilateral ties between the countries.
Although the Senate approved the bill with a 127 to 86 majority, it could still get rejected in the event if 60 lawmakers take it to a superior court and succeed in getting an approval from that court, acknowledging that the bill is in violation of the French constitution.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday claimed the French Senate approval did not bear any implications for Turkey, saying that “the bill approved both by the French National Assembly as well as French Senate is, for us, null and void” at a group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Although Erdoğan vowed that Turkey has already planned its the steps to take against the French administration when the bill becomes law in the country, he did not elaborate on what those steps might include, and refrained from spelling out concrete measures against its NATO partner and international ally.
“We are still patient. We will act in accordance as the developments unfold,” he added. He also said Turkey will implement measures against France “step by step.”
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé spoke on Canal+ television on Tuesday, saying that the bill was poorly timed, and that Ankara should remain calm regarding the developments. “We need good relations with it [Turkey] and we need to get through this phase,” Reuters quoted Juppé as saying. “We have very important economic and trade ties. I hope the reality of the situation will not be usurped by emotions.”
As far as emotions went, Turkey’s Ambassador to Paris Tahsin Burcuoğlu, who was briefly recalled in late December for consultations following lower house’s approval of the same bill, stated that the bill could lead to a total rupture in relations between Turkey and France, and that Turkey might consider downgrading the level of diplomatic contact between the countries. “When I say total rupture I include things like my definitive departure [from France],” he told reporters a day after the Senate’s approval, warning that diplomatic ties might be reduced to the minimal level recognized by international conventions, the level of chargé d’affaires. Although Ankara has not hinted at that direction, it is speculated that Turkey could send the French ambassador home after Monday’s vote.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, in the initial Turkish reaction, condemned the Senate’s approval early Tuesday morning in a written statement issued in multiple languages, hinting that the dispute is expected to last and have far-reaching consequences for a large number of countries. “Turkey is committed to taking all the necessary steps against this unjust disposition, which reduces basic human values and public conscience to nothing,” the ministry statement read, while at the same time urging the French president not to sign the bill while he still can do something to avert the impending crisis. It said the law should not be finalized to “avoid this being recorded as one of France’s political, legal and moral mistakes,” AP reported.
“We find it useful to remind all parties that, in case of the completion of the finalization process for the law, we will not hesitate to implement, as we deem appropriate, the measures that we have considered in advance,” the Foreign Ministry said. The ministry also added that “it must also be known that we will continue to strongly use our right to defend ourselves on a legitimate basis against unfair allegations,” signaling that the country might take the French law to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as was previously suggested.
The French lower house’s support for the bill on Dec. 22 prompted a harsh reaction from Turkey as the country froze all economic, political and military meetings and bilateral deals with France, but Turkish officials refrained from naming the possible steps it would take against France after Monday’s approval. It is speculated in the international media that the calm atmosphere among Turkey’s decision makers was related to the fact that the bill could still be sunk by either the French constitutional court for its incompatibility with the French legal system, or by Sarkozy, who might opt not to put his signature on the bill, although it is quite unlikely that he would make such a move ahead of the elections.
Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan also voiced the expectation that the bill could be brought to a superior court for nullification by 60 lawmakers, as he noted that he convinced that the French decision was at odds with the French legal system. The same criticism was voiced by French senators during Monday’s hours-long-debate in the French Senate, as critics of the denial bill noted that parliaments should not enforce international law on third countries and that the bill is in violation of the freedom of expression in France.
Prior to the bill’s approval, a French Senate panel, the Commission of Laws, voiced its opinion against the bill, saying it would be unconstitutional if it passed the Senate. The Senate could have adhered to the commission’s decision, although not binding and merely advisory, but it disregarded the commission’s decision and went ahead with the vote. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also brought up the issue, saying a similar law went through the same stages back in May 2011, but the opinion of the same commission changed the fate of the bill that time, dropping it from Senate’s agenda. “Although the Commission of Laws of the Senate once again concluded that the latest proposal was in violation of the Constitution, the Senate adopted it,” the Foreign Ministry noted. “Since there has not been a change in the substance of the matter in the meantime, this development is a blatant indication of how such a sensitive issue can be exploited for domestic political purposes in France,” it added. Ankara’s speculation that the bill is politically charged to gain votes from half a million Armenians living in France is also voiced by the international media, and is not refuted by French politicians, who expressed that politicians make laws to appease their voters, and that’s what democracy is all about.
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