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Turkish Parliament To Avenge French Law
CAIRO, Jan 24 (IslamOnline) - The Turkish parliament is looking into a bill that would acknowledge France's massacre against Algerians forty years ago as genocide, a move that is thought to be in response for a French law passed last week recognizing an "Ottoman genocide" against Armenians.
The bill, which seems certain to pass in Turkey's parliament, is the latest in a series of actions taken by Ankara in response to Paris's move.
Turkey accuses French MPs of bias as they failed to admit massacres their country committed during colonial times.
"The Turkish parliament recognizes and condemns the genocide France committed in Algeria between 1954 and 1962, its cruelty in Vietnam and its contributions to the genocide in Rwanda," Anatolia news agency reported on its website.
The agency reported that Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Saturday said that his country was preparing "a sanction plan, which will not affect Turkish economy."
Turkey, on Tuesday, said it rescinded a spy satellite contract the French telecommunications equipment group Alcatel and warned of further retaliation in arms deals following adoption of a French bill charging as genocide the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
The decision to scrap the key defense deal with Alcatel, amid a chilling in bilateral relations between Paris and Ankara, was the first economic sanction the country took against the European powerhouse.
The French News agency AFP reported from Paris that Eurocopter, a French company part of the European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company, was also felt ramifications from the tryst, as Turkey cancelled an order for 145 combat helicopters.
Ankara also recalled its ambassador in Paris for consultations and warned of possible further harm to commercial and political relations between the two countries.
France has Europe's largest Armenian minority population, estimated at 300,000, who mostly lobbied hard for adoption of the law. The controversial law clearly states that, "France publicly recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915."
Turkey, which borders Armenia, denies any part in genocide and argues that any events were part of general skirmishes in 1915. Armenian leaders say some 1.5 million Armenians died during the last days of the empire.
The Turks say only 300,000 died during clashes and that people died on both sides during a revolt against authorities.
The European Union Parliament passed a similar law late last year, also angering Ankara.
Armenians in the U.S. also pressed a similar law. The U.S. congress debated a bill, but finally dropped it after warnings from former President Bill Clinton that such a law would be harmful to Washington's security interests in the region.
This week, the British Interior Ministry announced that Armenian representatives would attend a January 28th Holocaust Commemoration Day ceremony. Interior Minister Jack Straw said, "The Jews were not the only victims of the Nazi terror. Therefore, we will allow all ethnic groups to take part in the ceremony."
Leading Turkish columnist Erol Mansali, in the Cumhuriyet newspaper, opined that the Europe's snub towards Ankara is a European custom always treating Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, as inferior.
"First, the EU Parliament and the Council Of Europe have adopted decisions previously unimaginable favoring Kurds and Armenians," he said.
"Secondly, the PKK [a separatist movement] has been supported by many European countries and this support is still ongoing."
Thirdly, on the questions between Greece and Turkey, the European Union, particularly after 1993, took Greece's side against Turkey."
Reaction in France towards Turkey's reciprocal condemnation has yet to be made.
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