Armenian Sympathy or Plain Politics?
by Janki Shah
Genocide, by dictionary definition, is an organized killing of a people
to end their collective existence; an action which necessarily requires
central planning and various forms of machinery for execution. Prime
examples of such odious killings include the Holocaust and the Rwandan
Genocide. Among these dreadful events, the Armenians have long been
forgotten, but this is about to change soon, at least in France. The
Armenian Genocide refers to the forced mass evacuation and related deaths
of over a million Armenians during the government of the Young Turks
from 1915 to 1917 in the Ottoman Empire. Although it is generally agreed
that the Armenian Genocide did occur, the Turkish government and several
international historians reject the label "genocide," and
allege that the Armenian deaths were not caused by a state-sponsored
plan of mass extermination, but of inter-ethnic strife, disease, and
famine that occurred during the turmoil of World War I.
Nevertheless, in other parts of the world, especially places where Armenian heritage blossoms, the opinion is quite different. They believe that the 1915 event was a blatant attempt to wipe out the Armenian race and culture. Presently, the most forward voice on this opinion is France, a country which wishes to preserve its view by enacting it into legislative law. In France, the lower house of parliament has accepted a bill that makes the act of denying that Armenians suffered genocide a felony. Other nations and people are wary, since no other country has tried this tactic before. Thus the question arises: “Why are the French enacting this bill now, almost 100 years after the genocide occurred?” Many think that the answer to this question lies in the upcoming French elections.
"Everything is politics," they say. And for the opponents of the French proposal, that is precisely what the debate is about. This bill was proposed by the minority Socialists in the French Parliament, a group which has much to gain by gaining the votes of the millions of Armenians that have never really paid attention to the elections. As there is a presidential election next year, cynics say that pushing for a law criminalizing the denial of an Armenian genocide is incredibly influential with Armenians. A Socialist Member of Parliament, Jack Lang, is one of those who believes the bill is just a political tactic; "I believe the Socialist party has adopted an electoralist point of view. It is not sincere. It is only to get the electoral support of the Armenian community." More opponents say that there is another group that advocates of the bill want to make a mark on: the majority of French folk who do not want Turkey joining the European Union. There is a common agreement of many French politicians that a predominately Muslim country, like Turkey, has no place in the European Union.
But is this skepticism over the motives behind the Armenian bill fair play or just another tactic from the other side to make the bill’s advocates seem more politicked and biased? For many French politicians, refuting the Armenian genocide is like rejecting the Holocaust, and therefore it is not just Socialists who support this bill; they are joined by a number of middle-right politicians as well. One of them, Herve Mariton, of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement party says, “The genocide is a fact. It is an absolute disgrace for the 20th Century, it is an absolute disgrace for humanity, it has to be stated as such."
Currently, the government of President Jacques Chirac is in a difficult position because of his suggestion that Turkish recognition of the Armenian genocide should be a prerequisite of entry into the European Union. Curiously, though, he has distanced his government from the bill. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin says it is a bad idea as he determinedly insists that France needs strong ties with Turkey, because French businesses fear that trade will suffer--exports to Turkey were worth 4.66 billion euros last year.
As in most political agendas, money is everything; so ultimately, according to many politicians in France, the bill will never become a law in France. In either case, it has to go to the Senate for a vote with the government's majority in the upper house; many think it is unlikely to pass. Those in favor of the bill emphatically say that “yes, the horrors of the past must not be forgotten or denied. The new bill is not about politics,” they say, “but principle.”
ADDENDUM: In recent news, the bill was passed and Turkish and French relations have become very embittered. What happened to Freedom of Speech? Oh wait, that’s only in the U.S. What? It’s not in the U.S. anymore either? Well, it must have gone to a grand utopia where all the other fantastical ideas, like truth, justice, and democracy lay defeated.
