France Risks Turkey Measures as Armenian Genocide Law Passes

January 24, 2012, 7:16 AM EST

By Emre Peker

(Updates with Turkish ambassador in eighth paragraph.)

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The French Senate voted to approve legislation making it a crime to deny that the mass killing of Armenians early last century was genocide, risking a new round of sanctions from Turkey and further deterioration in relations.

The bill, passed yesterday by a vote of 127-86, would make the offense punishable by as long as a year in prison and a 45,000-euro ($58,545) fine.

Thousands of Turks in Paris protested the measure outside the Senate, separated by a 200-meter (650-foot) police corridor from Armenians supporting the law, Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news agency reported. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had lobbied against the measure by summoning executives of Credit Agricole SA and Groupama SA in December.

“We strongly condemn this decision,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in an e-mailed statement. Turkey pledged to fight the measure on “every platform,” according to the statement, and said those who think the country is overreacting “neither comprehend the essence of the matter, nor understand Turkey and the Turkish people.”

Last night’s vote was “inopportune,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Canal-Plus television, urging Turkey to remain calm. “Turkey and France need each other to work together on many issues,” he said. “I hope reason wins out over passion.”

‘Incomprehensible’ Action

Turkey froze political and military relations with France after the lower chamber’s Dec. 22 vote and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening additional steps. He says President Nicolas Sarkozy’s governing party, which introduced the legislation, is using it to shore up public support before presidential elections in May. Sarkozy also opposes Turkey’s membership of the European Union.

“It’s incomprehensible for Sarkozy to push a verdict on a matter historians should decide upon, just for his own political purposes,” Erdogan said in televised comments from Istanbul before yesterday’s vote. The premier will address members of the governing Justice and Development Party at 11:30 a.m. today in Ankara and may announce additional sanctions against France at the meeting.

Turkey temporarily withdrew its ambassador to Paris, Tahsin Burcuoglu, after the lower house approved the measure. He may be recalled to Ankara for discussions following last night’s vote, according to Anatolia. “This is a very wrong decision,” Burcuoglu told the news agency. “We’re not responsible for it, we’ve done all we could.”

Turkey’s Euronews Stake

TRT, Turkey’s state-run broadcaster, said it plans to suspend its 15.5 percent partnership with Lyon-based Euronews if France approved the bill, Anatolia reported yesterday. TRT is the third-biggest of 10 stakeholders in the news channel that the French helped establish to counter Time Warner Inc.’s CNN, according to the news agency.

Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally of France, has threatened economic as well as political reprisals over the law. French carmakers including Renault SA control a fifth of Turkey’s market and French banks such as BNP Paribas SA have assets in the country exceeding $20 billion. French direct investment in Turkey between 2002 and 2010 was $4.8 billion, the Turkish embassy in Paris has said.

Armenians say 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed from 1915 to 1923 in a deliberate campaign of genocide in Anatolia. Turkey maintains the deaths occurred as part of clashes in which tens of thousands of Turks and Armenians died after Armenian groups sided with an invading Russian army.

About 20 nations including Greece, Canada and Russia, Turkey’s second-biggest trading partner after Germany, recognize the events as genocide.

Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande would beat Sarkozy by 57 percent to 43 percent in a May 6 face-off in the second round of the elections, according to a Jan. 21 BVA poll.

--With assistance from Helene Fouquet and Gregory Viscusi in Paris and Blanche Gatt in London. Editors: Terry Atlas, Larry Liebert

To contact the reporter on this story: Emre Peker in Ankara at epeker2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net

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