EMRE DEMİR - Today’s Zaman
Senators voted on a procedural motion, declaring the text “inadmissible” with 196 votes against 74, which is equivalent to rejection. The bill proposed to punish those who challenge the existence of the Armenian genocide with a year in prison and a 45,000-euro fine.
However, the UMP government, which has promised Turkish officials on many occasions that they would say “no” to the proposed bill, has bowed to pressure from the Armenian lobby and made a compromise. The justice minister, delivering a speech at the Senate on Wednesday, offered to issue a circular to pave the way to trying those who deny the alleged genocide.
Justice Minister Michel Mercier announced at the Senate that the circular will be drafted later this week. Suggesting that the government has been preparing this circular to prevent racist incidents against the Armenian society, Mercier said sanctions will be implemented against denial statements.
Mercier gave a special commission held between the Jewish society and the Ministry of Justice as an example, saying: “I invite the representatives of the Armenian society to jointly work with members of the judiciary and the Ministry of Justice in order to determine all of the incidents of genocide denial and racism.”
According to the circular, a commission comprised of representatives of the Armenian society will be able to file complaints to punish those who deny the existence of genocide with jail sentences.
The move by the UMP, in a bid to appease Armenian society ahead of next year’s presidential elections, has been enthusiastically welcomed by the Armenian lobby. Turkish officials, meanwhile, were “shocked” by the circular proposal, which they learned about during some discussions on the bill.
Analysts say that the justice minister cannot make such a move without the consent of President Nicolas Sarkozy. After the rejection of the draft bill, bringing similar bills to the agenda will become more difficult.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million Armenians were either sent to their deaths or slaughtered in eastern Anatolia at the hands of Ottoman Turks in 1915, an accusation that Turkey vehemently rejects. Turkey says both sides suffered tragic losses in a state of war during World War I.
The French Parliament recognized the so-called Armenian genocide in 2001, which resulted in short-lived tension between France and Turkey. In 2006 the French National Assembly adopted the bill proposing punishment for anyone who denies the Armenian genocide. However, it had to be passed by the Senate in order to be enforced.
In late March, as a result of efforts by a group of Socialists, the bill was debated at the Senate’s plenary session on Wednesday.
It was presented by Serge Lagauche of the Socialist Party and 30 of his Socialist colleagues in a “niche” (meeting of parliamentary initiative) reserved for the Socialist group, at the request of the first party secretary, Martine Aubry.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
