French gambit on genocide today…

Members of a pro-government workers union protest outside the French Embassy in Ankara (AFP, Adem Altan)

France and Turkey set for diplomatic crisis – FRANCE 24

In today’s French papers, there are exclusive reports from inside Syria. We look at why French MPs have decided to really upset Ankara. There is a scandal over poisonous breast implants, and joy for Paris Saint-Germain fans as David Beckham signs on the dotted line.

Ankara hopeful French Senate will decline bill

from Hurriyet Daily News

France?s Parliament is likely to adopt a bill criminalizing denials of the 1915 events as genocide, the head of a Turkish legislative delegation to Paris said yesterday.

Sarkozy is ruining a precious relationship

from Hurriyet Daily News
Politics is this kind of a thing: Politicians may think everything is permissible to be elected.

Minister incites Turks to boycott French goods

from Hurriyet Daily News

Turkey?s EU Minister warns that ?Turks decide on their own? implying that they will boycott against French goods as they did before against Italy if France approves the bill punishing denial of Armenian ?genocide?.

Turkey should not walk into Sarkozy?s trap

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Columnists by MARKAR ESAYAN
Today, the French parliament will negotiate and most probably pass a bill that criminalizes denial of the Armenian genocide. I think Turkey?s reaction to it will be much bigger than the one shown when France recognized the 1915 incidents as genocide in 2001. Yet Turkey is supposed to act in a more cool-headed manner in the face of a low-caliber politician like French President Nicolas Sarkozy. However, Turkey does not exhibit the self-confidence that is characteristic of big countries. This is because the Armenian issue is our soft spot. It gives us pain and anger…

Turkey warns of reprisals if France passes genocide denial bill

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Angelique Chrisafis
Erdogan fury as French parliament due to vote on making it illegal to deny 1915 Armenian massacre was genocide
Diplomatic relations between France and Turkey were on a knife-edge after Ankara warned of reprisals if the French parliament approves a law making it illegal to deny that the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was genocide.

La France en tête de Turc

by Acturca
Sud Ouest (France) Mercredi 21 décembre 2011, p. Périgueux-C1_4 Bruno Dive Les députés qui examinent demain une proposition de loi visant à réprimer la négation des génocides auraient mieux fait de partir en vacances un jour plus tôt. Bien sûr, c?est mal de nier l?existence des génocides, mais il existe déjà une loi pour les […]

Turkey ranks 12th in soft power rankings

from Hurriyet Daily News
Turkey ranked 12th among the most developed soft powers in the world, according to recent research by the Skolkovo-E&Y Institute.

Gül?s call falls on Sarkozy?s deaf ears

from Hurriyet Daily News
In an unprecedented move that was perceived as an act of disrespectfulness by Turkey, French President Sarkozy refused to talk to the Turkish President.

Erdogan invite la France à revisiter son histoire

by Acturca
Reuters Samedi 17 décembre 2011, Istanbul Recep Tayyip Erdogan a de nouveau pris pour cible la France en invitant samedi Paris à revisiter son histoire coloniale plutôt que le passé ottoman de la Turquie. Cette attaque du Premier ministre turc intervient à cinq jours de l?examen par les députés français d?un texte de l?UMP rendant

‘Genocide’ bill on French Parliament agenda

The French government did not object to the placement of the motion criminalizing the denial of the Armenian claims of genocide on the Parliament agenda, according to Anatolia News Agency.

Turkey warns France over genocide bill

from FT.com – World, Europe
Relations are nearing crisis point, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan telling Nicolas Sarkozy that ?irreparable damage? would follow passage of the measure

Turkey threatens France over stance on killing of Armenians by Ottomans

French parliament to debate proposal to prosecute people who deny mass killings were an act of genocide
Turkey has threatened to denounce France’s colonial past at international meetings in retaliation for French plans to prosecute people who deny that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was genocide.

Armenian issue and France

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Columnists by ERGUN BABAHAN
As the year 2015, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Forced Migration, draws near, Turkey will find itself pushed into a tight corner. France has already sparked the process.

Füle: Writing history not EU?s duty

from Hurriyet Daily News
Writing history was not the duty of the European Union, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle said referring to France?s bill punishing denial of Armenian ?genocide.?

France genocide law angers Turkey

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition
Turkey’s president urges France to scrap plans for a bill criminalising the denial of the 1915-16 mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

La France ignore la Turquie

by Acturca
Paris-Normandie (France) mercredi 21 décembre 2011, p. 42 Les députés français examineront jeudi un texte condamnant la négation du génocide arménien. Faisant fi de vives critiques turques, l?Assemblée nationale française a décidé hier mardi, avec l?assentiment du gouvernement, de maintenir ce jeudi l?examen d?une proposition de loi condamnant la négation du génocide arménien, au risque

L?Assemblée fâche la Turquie

by Acturca
Le Parisien (France) mercredi 21 décembre 2011, p. 75_T_9 Nathalie Segaunes Les députés examineront demain une proposition de loi punissant la négation du génocide arménien de 1915. Une initiative qui déclenche la colère des autorités turques. L?Assemblée nationale va-t-elle déclencher une grave crise diplomatique avec la Turquie? En décidant hier, avec l?accord du gouvernement, d?examiner demain

French hotel denies Turkish delegation a conference room

A hotel in France cancelled a reservation by a Turkish delegation for a conference room without offering any reason for cancellation…

Turkish MPs lobby against ?genocide? bill

A Turkish parliamentary delegation started a three-day campaign in Paris yesterday to halt a French motion criminalizing the denial of Armenian genocide claims.

Let’s not use Africans against the French

Despite efforts to improve the image of Arabs by the ruling party, this nation still has what I can call the ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ trauma.

Turkey facing regional criticism

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is facing foreign policy dilemmas that were not factored in during the heady days of …

European crisis and Turkey’s bumpy accession process

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Columnists by HAKAN TAŞÇI
The European Union is going through the most difficult days in its history. The economic crisis and unwillingness to take bold actions to save the union is due to the national domestic agendas of the union’s big boys. Turkey, on the other hand, enjoys a comparatively resilient economy with very high growth despite vulnerabilities in current account deficit (CAD) and inflation. In this quite unpredictable environment, the EU and Turkey should not sacrifice the long-term strategic benefits of the accession process for short-term rhetoric.

Is Turkey an economic exception?

by Acturca
IFRI (France) 14 December 2011 Conference report from the roundtable organized at IFRI on December 6th, 2011 This roundtable was devised to tackle the specificity of Turkey?s economy, which is completing major economic achievements in those difficult times. François Faure first analyzed the risks of an economic backlash in the country, following the European crisis

Genocide trade

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Columnists by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ
When the French were discussing passage of a law in 2006 to criminalize denial of the Armenian genocide, Hrant Dink was being tried under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalized claiming Turkey had committed genocide in 1915.