Posted on 05/15/2006 9:37:48 AM PDT by ncountylee
ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened France with trade sanctions if it adopts a bill making it illegal to deny that the 1915-17 massacre of Armenians in Turkey was "genocide," a Turkish newspaper said Sunday.
"Patience has its limits. We do not have hatred (toward France) but we will impose our sanctions," the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted Turkey's prime miniter as saying at a summit of Muslim countries on the Indonesian island of Bali.
French lawmakers were due to consider next week a bill from the opposition Socialists which would make anyone denying the existence of the "Armenian genocide" liable to a five-year jail term and a 45,000-euro ($57,000) fine.
French MPs should be "particularly sensitive" to the issue of possible sanctions since France is the number one investor in Turkey, Erdogan said. "There will possibly be problems."
France has angered Ankara in the past over the Armenian question. In 2001 it adopted a law recognizing the massacres as "genocide." Turkey acknowledges that massacres took place, but refuses to class them as genocide.
Several French businesses were excluded from invitations to tender in Turkey amid calls there for a boycott of French products following the 2001 law.
French exports to Turkey after the 2001 law plunged by $3.53 billion, according to Turkish figures. But analysts predict the latest law could have a far greater impact on trade between the two countries than the 2001 bill.
Turkey has reached record rates of growth in the past five years and bilateral trade between the countries in 2005 was worth at least $9.6 billion.
Armenians allege up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in the massacres.
Turkey is trying to be the victim. Standard moose tactic to avoid responsibility or facts.
Turkey is trying to join the EU, but even they aren't afraid of France. The French know that they risk "The Muslim Street" rioting again.
"a bill making it illegal to deny that the 1915-17 massacre of Armenians in Turkey was "genocide,""
Why would they need a law for that?
It's only a genocide when Christians fight back against muslims. eg Bosnia.
I don't know. I'm glad that France is willing to call a spade a spade, but I do find this new law troubling as suppresses freedom of speech.
Turkey is no more a part of Europe than Russia is. It is time to send the Turkish leeches home.
The truth hurts, sometimes.
To the Turks, everything is "shurla burla", which means "like this, like that". You never know what will happen. All foreigners are "ayip", they're considered dirty. So is homosexuality, it's a big crime here, but most of them do it every chance they get. There are about thousand things that are "ayip", for instance, you can stab or shoot somebody below the waist but not above because that's intent to kill. So everyone runs around stabbing everyone else in the ass. That's what they call Turkish revenge. I know it must all sound crazy to you, but this place is crazy.
What's Turkey going to stop exporting? Welfare claimants and drug dealers?
It's okay Turkey, I'll hate France for you.
This is stupid on so many levels...
Russia is very nuch a part of Europe, and Turkey while not in Europe proper was at one time western/christain. But that was long ago before the Islamic hordes over ran most of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Please tell me, how is Russia, now or ever, a part of Europe? It is an Oriental Despotism, and the Russian Orthodox Church is a state satrapy if there ever was one. The Russian people find an affinity with other Slavs, but I have met few Yugoslavs, Czechs or Bulgarians who feel comfortable in that embrace.
Freedom of speech doesn't exist in France. Holocaust denial or "defaming the dead" by denying the Holocaust is already illegal. They're just adding the Armenians to it.
Good for them though. Our government won't even come out and state it was a genocide -- don't want to hurt our relations with Turkey.
It's still about truth. And it irritates me that we are so beholden to that pissant country that we won't take the position of truth.
Turkey warns of terror wave if EU membership is rejected
EU Observer | Dec 13 2004 | Lisbeth Kirk
Posted on 12/15/2004 1:10:42 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1301677/posts
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