Turkish fm: France is voting itself today

KAYSERI (A.A) - January 23, 2012 - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that French Senate would vote a bill on Armenian allegations, and France was voting itself today. Europe's arrogance is showing itself at French Senate today, added Davutoglu during a conference in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri on Monday. Noting that Turkey's foreign policy was zero problem with neighbors and having peaceful relations with all countries, Davutoglu said that it was not France's place to make a decision about two other societies which lived in peace for centuries. French Senate will vote today a bill which penalizes denial of the Armenian allegations on 1915 incidents with a prison term of one year and a fine of 45,000 euro. I wish France would discuss the future of itself and Europe, instead of discussing such an inquisition, said Davutoglu, adding that Europe was not ruling 60 percent of world economy any more. Europe's arrogance is showing itself in French Senate today; France is voting itself today, he noted. "Will France arrest each Turk who says '1915 incidents are not genocide'? Will France send 35,000 Turks, who held a march and denied the bill, to concentration camps? Will they burn books in French libraries (telling 1915 incidents) at streets like it was during the inquisition period?" said Davutoglu. In December, 2011, the lower house of the French Parliament adopted 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 presidential election on April 22 and the second round run-off on May 6. Sarkozy is running for a second term. 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.