----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 4:28 PM Subject: More Trouble In NATOland [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get fast, easy info by phone: Call 800-555-TELL. News, weather, restaurants... & much more! http://www.tellme.com/signin/register.gsp?src=engage&i=12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, January 18 11:38 PM SGT Furious Turkey recalls envoy over French genocide vote ANKARA, Jan 18 (AFP) - Turkey recalled its ambassador to France for consultations Thursday, reacting bitterly to a French parliamentary vote that described massacres of Armenians that took place in the early years of the 20th century as genocide. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit warned France of a "serious and lasting" blow to bilateral ties, and threatened retaliatory after the vote, which took place in Paris early on Thursday. "The French National Assembly has taken a very unjustified decision against Turkey. It is not possible for us to accept this," Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit told reporters here. "The necessary reaction will be shown. Naturally, our deep-rooted political and economic ties with France will suffer," he added. "The bill, which has greatly disappointed our nation, will cause serious and lasting harm to Turco-French relations and could lead to a serious crisis in our ties," the Turkish government said in a statement. It also said the move will have a negative impact on efforts for peace and stability in the region, where France is seeking to broker a settlement with Turkey's assistance to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. "France will hold the responsibility for that," it said. The controversial bill, which has been disavowed by the French government, was passed unanimously by the about 50 deputies attending the assembly's morning session to the applause of Armenians and their supporters gathered in the public gallery. The bill states that "France publicly recognises the Armenian genocide of 1915." Its adoption marks the end of a difficult two-year passage through parliament. But Ecevit remained hopeful that the resolution, which should now automatically become law, could still be squashed by the French Constitutional Council. "I hope a way to resolve this problem can be found in the Constitutional Council, taking into account this crisis and the heavy damage it could have on Turco-French relations," the prime minister said. "If this does not happen we will take all necessary measures," he added, refusing to elaborate on possible moves against France. But asked whether French firms could be excluded from lucrative Turkish tenders, Ecevit said "anything could be affected" by the crisis. Turkey believes the genocide bill is a politically-motivated move to please France's influential Armenian community of around 400,000 people ahead of municipal elections in March and presidential and parliamentary polls next year. Government spokesman Kazim Rustu Yucelen said Ankara will discuss other possible sanctions against France when ambassador Sonmez Koksal returns. "The summoning of the ambassador itself is a sanction," Yucelen said. Another reaction came from Turkish bussiness circles, which believed that the French move could not be allowed to go unretaliated. The head of the Ankara trade chamber, Sinan Aygun, called for a boycott of French goods, while the head of the Economic Development Foundation, Meral Eris, said the bill will damage bilateral economic ties. "We should not expect an improvement of economic ties with a country which is doing so much injustice to Turkey," she said. France is among Turkey's main economic partners, with bilateral trade standing at more than four billion dollars in 1999. Armenians maintain that 1.5 million people died in massacres and mass deportations between 1915 and 1917, while Turkey says some 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed in what was internal fighting in the dissolution years of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey refuses to establish diplomatic ties with its eastern neighbor Armenia until Yerevan ends its international campaign for the recognition of genocide claims and resolves the Nagorno-karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
