Turkey's senior diplomat warns French senators about resolution on Armenian allegation

PARIS (A.A) - January 11, 2012 - Turkey's ambassador to France warned on Wednesday members of Socialist Group at the French Senate about the resolution criminalizing denial of Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915. Tahsin Burcuoglu delivered a speech in a meeting of Socialist Group and warned that adoption of the resolution at the Senate would have heavy costs on bilateral relations. The Socialist Group invited Burcuoglu to their meeting in order to learn more about Turkey's views. During his speech, Burcuoglu briefed the senators on the incidents of 1915 and said that ratification of the resolution would harm bilateral relations. "All options are on the table, and we do not ignore any possibility," Burcuoglu told senators when asked what kind of sanctions Turkey might impose.  Burcuoglu said France, itself, had put reservation to the initiative to present the resolution as a European Union (EU) frame law. The ambassador said the People's Movement Union, which was in power, prepared the resolution, and told Socialist senators that it was not their resolution but a resolution brought up by the government. Burcuoglu warned Socialist senators not to be a tool for harming Turkish-French relations by adopting a resolution brought up by the government. "Do not think that this resolution was brought up by the government, and you can better Turkish-French relations when Socialists come to power after elections," Burcuoglu warned. The lower house of the French parliament adopted in December a resolution that criminalizes rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915. Only 70 out of 577 parliamentarians joined the voting of the resolution which was adopted with majority of votes. The resolution envisages "one-year prison term and 45,000 Euro fine for those who deny genocide recognized by French laws." French Parliament had recognized so-called Armenian genocide in 1915 on January 29, 2001. The draft criminalizing the rejection of Armenian allegations had first been approved in 2006, but it could not become a law as French President Nicolas Sarkozy prevented its presentation to Senate. Now, the senate's approval is necessary to make the resolution a law. Turkey strongly opposes the issue of the incidents of 1915 being used as a tool in French politics. Many believe that French President Sarkozy supports the Armenian resolution in order to garner support from France's Armenian population that number around 500,000. France will hold the first round of this year's presidential election on April 22 and the second round run-off on May 6. Sarkozy is running for a second term. The resolution will be brought up to the French Senate on January 23 with the government's initiatives. Before it comes to the general assembly, it will be submitted to special laws committee and rapporteurs will prepare a report.  The committee can reject the bill, saying that it is against the constitution.  If the resolution is not adopted at the senate till February 22, 2012 when the parliament and senate will recess for presidential elections, it will be invalid.