ABC News Online
French MPs have adopted a bill that would make it a crime to deny that the Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of the Ottomans from 1915 to 1917. The draft law - which has provoked the fury of Turkey, the modern state that emerged from the Ottoman Empire - will now be sent to the Senate, or Upper House of Parliament, for another vote. The MPs in the Lower House, the National Assembly, passed the bill, introduced by the opposition Socialist Party, by 106 votes to 19. If it is subsequently passed by the Senate, and then again by the National Assembly, and signed into law by President Jacques Chirac, it would make it a crime in France to deny that the killing of the Armenians was genocide. Those violating the law would face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $A76,500.
Turkey has threatened economic reprisals against France if it becomes law, warning that French firms could be excluded from public tenders and that a boycott of French goods might be imposed. The Speaker of the Turkish Parliament says the bill reflects a "hostile attitude" towards Turkey. "It is a shameful decision. This is a hostile attitude against the Turkish nation ... It is unacceptable," Bulent Arinc said shortly after the draft law was approved in Paris, the Anatolia news agency reported. Turkey contests the term "genocide" for the killings and strongly opposes the bill's provisions.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their ancestors were slaughtered in orchestrated killings and that it can only be seen as genocide. Around 400,000 people of Armenian origin are estimated to live in France, the most famous being the singer Charles Aznavour, born Chahnour Varinag Aznavourian to immigrant parents. France in 2001 already adopted a law officially calling the killings a genocide.
Aljazeera.Net - Turkey faces EU stumble over Cyprus
Turkey's formal European Union membership negotiations are heading for a crisis this autumn, analysts say, because of Ankara's snubbing of European calls to recognise the island of Cyprus.
Last year, Turkey agreed to extend a customs union deal with the EU to include Cyprus, a full member of the EU since 2004.
The deal is considered a tricky bit of diplomacy as Turkey negotiates with the EU's 25 member states but does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus. Ankara has not ratified the deal, and its ports and airports are not open to Greek Cypriot aeroplanes or shipping.
Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for enlargement, has threatened an EU-Turkey "train crash" if Turkey's ports stay closed. But the Turkish response has been tough.
From Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, down to junior ministers, Turkey has insisted that it will not open its ports, until the EU fulfils its promises [made in 2004] to end the economic isolation of northern Cyprus, and allow the Turkish Cypriots to trade directly with the EU.
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