Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to keep earlier promises to forestall legislation that would criminalize the denial of Armenian “genocide†as Ankara turned up pressure on Paris, warning French businesses of serious consequences to trade links.
The bill, to be voted on Dec. 22, is threatening a fresh crisis in Turkish-French ties, long poisoned by strong French opposition to Turkey’s EU accession, just when signs have emerged of a rare rapprochement between the two countries as part of international efforts to end the turmoil in Syria.
In a letter to the French president, Erdogan urged Sarkozy “to keep his promise that such legislative attempts would not be finalized and block irreparable developments†in bilateral relations. Prime Ministry sources said the remark was a reference to statements Sarkozy made after a similar bill was approved at the French Parliament’s lower house in 2006, but could not make it to a vote in the Senate. The French president said at the time that “he had no intention to take the bill to the Senate and did not want things to get worse,†the letter said, adding that this position was also confirmed in talks with special representatives of the two leaders.
“The advancement of such attempts will have grave consequences for ties between Turkey and France in all fields - political, economic and cultural,†Erdogan said, dubbing the bill as a “hostile†move targeting Turkey and the Turkish community in France.
Erdogan said that if approved, the bill would harm also efforts to normalize Turkish-Armenian ties and deal a blow to free speech. Turkey has already said it will recall its ambassador from Paris if the bill is passed.