French Parliament passes Armenian Genocide bill

On 12th of October, The French parliament has adopted a bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of the Turks, infuriating Turkey.

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The bill, which would make genocide denial punishable by a year in jail and a 45,000-euro (356,400) fine, will now be passed to the Senate and president.

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Turkey has threatened to retaliate with economic sanctions against France.

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Vote splits Turkish Press

Newspapers in Turkey differ over how to respond to Thursday's vote in the French parliament.

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Some commentators believe the vote signals opposition to Turkey joining the European Union, and one writer calls France “a disgrace to the civilised world”.

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Other dailies appeal for a level-headed approach so that Turkey does not “humiliate” itself, and argue that Ankara still has many friends in Europe.

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CENGIZ CANDAR IN BUGUN

The draft law is actually a clear sign that “the anti-Turkey rebellion in the EU” has begun. That's why we cannot and must not see today's vote and its results exclusively in terms of relations between Turkey and France. This contains dimensions that can turn into a Turkey-EU issue, and the opposition against Turkey in the EU has begun to present an ugly face.

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HASAN CEMAL IN MILLIYET

In Europe there are not only those who want to keep Turkey outside of the EU. There are also those who defend Turkey's EU membership in terms of the contribution it will make to the political, economic and strategic interests of Europe. That is why staying on track and continuing the journey to Europe is certainly to Turkey's benefit.

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EMIN COLASAN IN HURRIYET

As long as we keep begging the Europeans on the way towards the EU, many more genocide tales, and many other issues and embarrassing obstacles will be set before us. Those who do not see this are either liars attempting to deceive the nation or the ignorant ready to sell their country to the EU.

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MEHMET ALI BIRAND IN POSTA

Let us not provoke those Turkish people who cannot control their reactions. Let us tell France to “stop” but do that within civilised limits. Let us not humiliate ourselves nor incite xenophobia in Turkey.

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OKTAY EKSI IN HURRIYET

We stress that France is a disgrace to the civilised world. However, it is a precondition for Turkey, which tells others that “what you are doing is shameful in terms of freedom of expression” first of all to get rid of its own sources of shame.

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ILHAN SELCUK IN CUMHURIYET

France is not alone in this move. The West has changed towards Turkey! If France punishes those who say that “there was no Armenian genocide” it will be a shameful historical document and permit us to perceive the new realities of the world.

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SAHIN ALPAY IN ZAMAN

Ankara is getting ready to retaliate against France if it turns the denial of the “Armenian Genocide” into a crime. Even if we assume that the EU politicians and elites are not so stupid as to take steps that will push Turkey away from Europe, it seems inevitable that Turkey-EU relations will go through a tense period in the future.

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ORHAN PAMUK WINS NOBEL PRIZE

The Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, whose trial on charges of “insulting Turkishness” was dropped earlier this year, has won the 2006 Nobel prize for literature.

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The Swedish Academy praised the author's work, which includes the bestselling novels “Snow” and “My Name is Red” and a memoir of his home city, Istanbul, saying that “in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city [he] has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.”

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Pamuk's work, which has achieved both critical and commercial success in Turkey and beyond, examines questions of identity, and explores the transformations of modern Turkish society.

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The announcement by Horace Engdahl, head of the Swedish Academy, in Stockholm drew a brief but intense round of applause.

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At 7-1, 54-year-old Pamuk was third favourite with bookmakers Ladbrokes in the run up to the prize, after the perennial Nobel contender Ali Ahmad Said, the Syrian poet better known as Adonis (3-1) and the American author Joyce Carol Oates (6-1).

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The award follows last year's decision by the Academy to honour the playwright Howard Pinter, who used his acceptance speech to launch an attack on US foreign policy.

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Source: News bulletin of the ?Hunchak? Party in Cyprus, 13 October 2006