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Denying Armenian Genocide Illegal in France: Turks Angry

By Manila Ryce
Published Thursday, October 12th, 2006, 1:34 pm
Filed under: World: Asia, World: Europe, Human Rights, Genocide, World Issues, War, Society/Culture

The French lower house decided today to make it illegal to deny the Armenian genocide in which up to 1.5 million people were systematically killed by Ottoman Turks. The bill has yet to be ratified by the French Senate to full become law. It has, however, provoked intense negative media reactions in Turkey. Turkey has called the bill a “serious blow” to relations and has threatened sanctions. The bill still needs approval from the Senate and president, but is opposed by the French government and EU.

If the bill is passed, it would impose the same penalty which is currently applied to those denying the Nazi Holocaust – a year in jail and a 45,000 Euro fine. The Turkish foreign ministry said, “Turkish-French relations, which have been meticulously developed over the centuries, took a severe blow today through the irresponsible initiatives of some short-sighted French politicians, based on unfounded allegations.”

Turkey still denies that the Armenian Genocide ever happened. The French vote comes as Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, who won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, faced prosecution in Turkey for daring to talk about the genocide. The charges have since been dropped. Most Western, Armenian, Russian, and even Turkish scholars term the massacres as genocide, and is the second most-studied case of genocide behind the Nazi Holocaust. Winston Churchill described the massacres of Armenians as an “administrative holocaust”.

The International Association of Genocide Scholars has formally recognized the event and considers it to be undeniable. The denial of the Armenian Genocide is considered to be a form of historical revisionism or hate speech in countries with similar laws in regards to the Holocaust. Ironically, Israel of all countries does not recognize the Armenian Genocide. For diplomatic reasons, The UK and US have also never recognized the events between 1915 and 1917 as genocide, though 39 out of 50 states in the US do. Countries officially recognizing the Armenian genocide include Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, the Vatican, and Venezuela.

“Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
-Adolf Hitler, while persuading associates that a Jewish genocide would be tolerated

source

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7 Responses to “Denying Armenian Genocide Illegal in France: Turks Angry”

  1. Not a big blog responder since my last run in with a crazy named Onnik K. Anyway, I just want to say that there is a part of me that feels somewhat vindicated by the French government. There is also a part of me that is reminded that the reality of Genocide recognition bourne in a political enviroment will always be apart of a political ploy by some group or in political benefit or peril of another group. Even in and hopefully more in Turkey.

    Regardless, I am in support of governments recognizing this as a political fact but I am saddened that it has to be this way. I wish there was a way to raise social awareness non political way to raise attention to issues. I guess that is what MTV is for.

    Well, till next time.

    SirJouge

    SirJouge
    10/12/06 at 3:16 pm

  2. After the fall of both fascism and communism, people are once more searching for a new state oppression. Fortunately, political correctness is here for us.

    I don’t think any government has the right to lock people up for historical revisionism. I think people who deny the holocaust/armenian genocide are idiots, but they shouldn’t be locked up for having repulsive beliefs or questioning written history. In many cases historical revisionism gives us new insights on history, this isn’t one of those cases, but it’s not up to the government to decide. It’s up to historians.

    Kaziglu Bey
    10/12/06 at 3:21 pm

  3. I’d have to agree with ‘Bey. It’s a silly policy that France has established and could quite possibly open the floodgates to other things. It’s so extreme in fact, that it makes me nervous as to the real motives and intentions behind such a drastic piece of legislation.

    yazo
    10/12/06 at 3:30 pm

  4. While, I don’t think that this law will have lasting affect on the way that the Armenian Genocide is viewed in the international community I’m going to go on record and say that I do support it. Why? Well firstly they haven’t really set a precedent or anything with this, not in France, the EU, or even international law. In most European nations there are laws against denying the historical fact of the Holocaust. In fact the punishment for denying the genocide is exactly the same as that of denying the Holocaust. As one PM put it: “why should the punishment for one be different than the other just because one happened in WWI and the other in WWII.” I believe there are similar laws such as these in South America for denying apartheid, and Rwanda for denying the genocide there.

    Also, its often brought up that laws such as these legislate history. Specifically, this law doesn’t do that because in 1998 France passed an entirely different law that recognized the Armenian Genocide officially. This law only puts a penalty on its denial.

    Clearly we know that it shouldn’t be necessary for laws like this to exist, the historical record should tell the tale, right? It’s not that simple. People can lie and distort the truth, until fact isn’t decipherable. Sometimes for the general order of things laws do need to be passed by governments in order to solidify there positions on disputed issues. For example, take the Civil Rights bill. True libertarians or Goldwater republicans would/did say that it isn’t necessary for the government to step in and legislate morality. In an ideal world, no it wouldn’t be necessary, because people would just be able to act right, but its not in an ideal world and the government had to intervene and say “Hey stupids it should be obvious, but because you don’t get it we are going to pass a law that says everyone is equal and should be treated that way.” Are people equal just because there is a law that says they are? Obviously not, this is something we intrinsically understand now, but some people needed to be coerced.

    We would like to think that truth is truth right? During the Armenian Genocide it was the United States that was the most active in providing relief for Armenian refugees. While there was no such word as Genocide at the time, the United States has records in the Library of Congress that describe the events witnessed by Americans themselves in such a way that they completely fit the definition of the word Genocide. Yet, despite those eye-witness accounts (not to mention countless other pieces of evidence) our State department recently recalled the American Ambassador to Armenia for referring to the events of 1915 as a genocide. So what won out in that situation, history or politics. Since it was politics that determined the stance of the US government in that instance (as well as several other instances), don’t you think it there will need to be law that define US’s stance on the issue?

    While I’m ranting let me give you another comparison. Is it not true that most scientists (like 99.9%) know that global warming is a fact? Despite that isn’t also true that until today the administration of our government refuses to accept this fact? They’ve drummed every cook they could find to present alternate scenarios just so they wouldn’t have to begin federally regulating carbon emissions to the degree that is necessary to ensure future life on this planet. Would the people that read this blog not support the passage of a law that states that the United States of America accepts the principles of Global Warming, and as such we should act accordingly? I think you would. Even though its generally known and accepted by scientist and lay-people the world over, it could still take legislative intervention to make sure the issue isn’t politicized, and the truth is acknowledged.

    matt
    10/13/06 at 1:03 am

  5. […] Following the approval of a new law in France which makes it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, has said his government will take certain actions in response. Currently, Turkey denies that the Armenians ever suffered genocide in Turkey during World War I, despite the evidence. “Turkey’s foreign trade volume with France is $10 billion and this is equal to 1.5 per cent of France’s whole foreign trade volume,” Erdogan said. “We’re going to make the proper calculations and then take necessary steps.” […]

    The Largest Minority » Blog Archive » Armenian Genocide Bill: Turkey Upset at the Frogs
    10/14/06 at 3:20 pm

  6. […] A bronze memorial commemorating the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenian Genocide victims was stolen from the Paris suburb of Chaville. This theft comes at a suspicious time after the French parliament voted last Thursday to make it a crime to deny that the Armenians suffered genocide. History shows that Ottoman Turks systematically killed 1.5 million Armenians in 1915. Turkey still denies the genocide ever occurred, and has threatened economic action against France for the bill. […]

    The Largest Minority » Blog Archive » Armenian Genocide Memorial Stolen in France
    10/16/06 at 12:36 am

  7. Good stuff…if I can chime in:

    The Turkish Foreign Ministry insists that “it has been accused of something that never happened in history.” With such statements coming straight from the horse’s mouth - what kind of diplomacy is possible? Damage control is possible.

    The U.S. has mission critical supply routes that run through Turkey and provide crucial strategic support to U.S. troops in Iraq.

    Continued at: http://www.gummyprint.com/blog/armenian-genocide-resurrected-blamed-on-ottomans-turkeys-government-is-upset/

    Lateefx
    10/11/07 at 11:54 pm

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