Turkey threatens to retaliate against France over Armenian genocide bill

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the Senate vote in a statement,
saying it should not be ratified by Mr Sarkozy to ‘avoid this being recorded
as part of France’s political, legal and moral mistakes.’

The statement added that ‘we will not hesitate to implement, as we deem
appropriate, the measures that we have considered in advance’.

Mr Sarkozy’s ruling UMP coalition supported the bill, and his assent is
largely seen as a formality.

Critics argue that Mr Sarkozy, who is seeking re-election in the Spring, is
more interested in winning the votes of 500,000 Armenians who live in France.

But Alain Juppe, France’s foreign minister, said: “I think this
initiative was a bit inopportune, but Parliament has decided on it
accordingly. What I’d like to do today is call on our Turkish friends to
keep their composure.

“After this wave that has been a little bit excessive, I have to say I’m
convinced that we will return to constructive relations – I extend my hand,
I hope it will be taken one day.”

The Ottoman Empire was dissolved after the 1914-18 war, and successive Turkish
governments have argued that claims of genocide are a direct insult to their
nation.

The majority of Turks argue that there was a heavy loss of life on both sides
during the fighting in the area, and that mass killing was inevitable result
of newly industrialised warfare.

The headline in Ankara’s Hurriyet newspaper today read that Sarkozy ‘massacred
democracy’, while the Sozcu daily read : ‘Sarkozy the Satan’.

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