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There was no official vote count in the ballot in France's lower house of parliament, with
passage determined by a simple show of hands. The measure must still be passed in the Senate,
where its fate is less clear.
The measure put France on a collision course with Turkey, a strategic ally and trading partner.
Ankara reacted swiftly with state-run TV saying that Ambassador Tahsin Burcuoglu would be
withdrawn. Turkey had threatened to remove its ambassador if French lawmakers did not desist
and warned of "grave consequences" to political and economic ties.
Turkey vehemently rejects the term "genocide" for the World War I era-mass killings of
Armenians, saying the issue should be left to historians.
It contends that France is trampling freedom of expression and that President Nicolas Sarkozy is on a vote-getting mission ahead of April presidential elections. An estimated half-million Armenians live in France and many have pressed to raise the legal statute regarding the massacres to the same level as the Holocaust by punishing denial of genocide. France formally recognized the killings as genocide in 2001, but provided no penalty for anyone denying that.
The bill sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine of euro45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or "outrageously minimize" the killings by Ottoman Turks, putting such action on a par with denial of the Holocaust. "Our ancestors can finally rest in peace," said 75-year-old Maurice Delighazarian who said his grandparents on both sides were among the victims of the 1915 massacre. Vaskel Avedissian, 25, said he spent time with Turkish demonstrators outside the National Assembly earlier Thursday and "These people have nothing against Armenians." But, he added, "Turkey is the spokesman for state negationism today." Lawmakers denounced what they called Turkey's propaganda effort in a bid to sway them. "Laws voted in this chamber cannot be dictated by Ankara," said Jean-Christophe Lagarde, a deputy from the New Center party, as Turks demonstrated outside the National Assembly ahead of the vote.
The bill's author said she was "shocked" at the attempt to interfere with the parliament's work. "My bill doesn't aim at any particular country," said Valerie Boyer, a deputy from the ruling conservative UMP party. "It is inspired by European law, which says that the people who deny the existence of the genocides must be sanctioned." An initial bid to punish denial of the Armenian genocide failed earlier this year, killed by the Senate five years after it was passed by the lower house. French authorities have stressed the importance of bilateral ties with Turkey and the key role it plays in sensitive strategic issues as a member of NATO, in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere. However, Sarkozy has long opposed the entry into the European Union of mostly Muslim Turkey, putting a constant strain on the two nations' ties.
Turkish authorities have weighed in with caustic remarks about France's past. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has recalled France's colonial history in Algeria and a 1945 massacre there, as well as its role in Rwanda, where some have claimed a French role in the 1994 genocide. "Those who do want to see genocide should turn around and look at their own dirty and bloody history," Erdogan said last weekend. "Turkey will stand against this intentional, malicious, unjust and illegal attempt through all kinds of diplomatic means." Turkish President Abdullah Gul spoke out on the issue this week, saying it will "put France in a position of a country that does not respect freedom of expression and does not allow objective scientific research." Turkey insists the mass killings of Armenians — up to 1.5 million, historians estimate — occurred during civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, with losses on both sides. Historians contend the Armenians were massacred in the first genocide of the 20th century.
France is pressing Turkey to own up to its history for the sake of "memory" just as the French have officially recognized the role of their state — the collaborationist Vichy government — in the deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II. In October, Sarkozy visited Armenia and its capital of Yerevan, urging Turkey to recognize the 1915 killings as genocide. "Turkey, which is a great country, would honor itself by revisiting its history like other countries in the world have done," Sarkozy said. France, however, took its own time recognizing the state's role in the Holocaust. It was not until 1995 that then-President Jacques Chirac proclaimed France's active role in sending its citizens to death camps. And it was only in 2009 that his historic declaration was formally recognized in a ruling by France's top body, the Council of State. "I'm not sure what we did differently with this bill, but suffice it to say, we're pleasantly surprised by the result,"
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said from the duck-carcass-free steps of the Capitol. "No ducks spontaneously lost their buoyancy and drowned in their ponds, burst into flames, or lined up to be run over by a steamroller. It's a good day for Americans and a great day for ducks." Since the ratification of the Constitution, an astounding 14.7 million ducks have died in the passage of legislation. While congressional resolutions to honor events, institutions, or people generally result in the demise of no more than 2,500 ducks, sources said each bill related to financial policy or security programs inexplicably takes the lives of at least 90,000 ducks.
The current record duck death toll traceable to Congress occurred following proposal of the 18th Amendment, which somehow caused 380,000 ducks to die. Its repeal by the 21st Amendment was accompanied by an additional 214,000 ducks flying directly into the sun. "You can never predict how they're going to go," said Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), noting that even the Duck Protection Act of 1984 resulted in 4,100 ducks exploding over Chesapeake Bay. "We passed an FAA bill in 1998 that led to 80,234 ducks flying into jet engines, which kind of makes sense, I suppose. But then in 2000, we voted to approve a day of recognition for Hank Aaron, and 3,823 ducks had strokes. Whatever the case, it was nice to leave work this time without getting hit by a plunging duck."
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Chirac proclaimed France's active role in sending its citizens to death camps. And it was only in 2009 that his historic declaration was formally recognized in a ruling by France's top body,
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