The Turkish-French Connection

Will Turkey's Anger Over France's Move To Criminalise any Denial Of The 1915 Killing Of Armenians As Genocide Sour Ties? 

Inside Story 
Last Modified: 23 Dec 2011 15:32 
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

The lower house of the French parliament has approved a bill on Thursday that would make it a crime to deny that the killings by Ottoman Turks more than 90 years ago were genocide.

"It's part of the French election campaign and it's unfortunate that Turkish frustrations have [fallen victim to] political aspirations. But I disagree that the new French law is a reflection of what already exists in European law because the French law is penalising or criminalising freedom of thought." - Yusuf Kanli, Turkish columnist

The proposed sentence is one year in prison and a $59,000 fine.

Turkey vehemently rejects the term genocide and has withdrawn its ambassador because of the vote.

The dispute is expected to further harm Turkish-French relations - already strained by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's repeated rejection of Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

In this show we ask: What are the motives of the French move and to what extent is it politically motivated? And why is Turkey so angry?

Inside Story with presenter Mike Hanna discusses with guests: Claire Mouradian, an Armenian specialist at the Institute for Scientific Research; Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, a French political journalist and columnist for the Sunday Telegraph; and Yusuf Kanli, a columnist for the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News.