French in Armenia 'genocide' row with Turkey

[cain1798]

The focus of EU membership criteria should be on political and economic standards and regulations, not codified history.

Would you not agree that meeting certain human rights requirements as laid out in the Copenhagen criteria should also be part of that?

And on this basis, I would oppose Turkey's entry.

[eurocrat]

The focus of EU membership criteria should be on political and economic standards and regulations, not codified history.

Would you not agree that meeting certain human rights requirements as laid out in the Copenhagen criteria should also be part of that?

And on this basis, I would oppose Turkey's entry.

But no one is suggesting they join today. Rahter when they conform to the various human right standards. Once they conformed, met the various socio-economic standards laid out, would you have a problem?

Some people do, often citing Turkey's geopraphical location as a reason. Funnilly enough the same people never made that argument against Cyprus, 47 miles south of Turkey, just off the coast of Syria.

[St Disibod]

The focus of EU membership criteria should be on political and economic standards and regulations, not codified history.

Would you not agree that meeting certain human rights requirements as laid out in the Copenhagen criteria should also be part of that?

I would. The 'Copenhagen criteria' is indeed the umbrella term, but I am not a big fan of 'eurospeak'. I would consider "political [...] standards and regulations" to include the necessary human rights framework.

[cain1798]

Would you not agree that meeting certain human rights requirements as laid out in the Copenhagen criteria should also be part of that?

And on this basis, I would oppose Turkey's entry.

But no one is suggesting they join today. Rahter when they conform to the various human right standards. Once they conformed, met the various socio-economic standards laid out, would you have a problem?
[/quote]

Not at all. I don't like 'eurobabble' either Disibod, and I generally refer to human rights requirements and so on but I don't believe human rights is necessarily included in political and economic concerns. Quite the reverse in many ways.

[Catalpa]

Bad move....people should be able to state their case on historical events without ending up in prison.

David Irving is the EU's most famous prisoner of conscience right now.

The last thing we need is repeat performences of that traversity of justice!

[Jozer]

David Irving was exposed as a lying nazi apologist in the British Civil Courts.

Now, thanks to Austria, he will be best known as the guy who was imprisioned for disagreeing with historical orthodoxy. So the BNP & their ilk can paint him as a victim. Stupid.

[Marx]

In an interesting twist ORHAN PAMUK, Turkey’s foremost novelist, who faced trial earlier this year for comments about the massacres of Armenians in the First World War, won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature

His trial, for “insulting Turkishness” followed his assertion that one million Armenians had been killed in Turkey in 1915, and 30,000 Kurds during an insurgency decades later. Although the case was dismissed, it caused great embarrassment to Ankara as it tried to demonstrate to the EU that Turkey is reforming its restrictive laws.

Charges of “insulting Turkishness” brought against Pamuk, 54, were dropped on a technicality after attracting worldwide attention and stirring protests that Turkish laws restricted freedom of expression. The case damaged his country’s aspiration to join the European Union.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...401866,00.html

[Munion]

Two wrongs and all that....

Turkey is years behind the EU in terms of human rights and freedom of expression we all know that.

France however is only abusing the Armenian genocide to make a political point and also undermining freedom of expression in their own country.

RE: Cyrpus. I think it's more of a demographic rather than a geographic thing. The majority of Cypriots are ethnically Greek who are a European people.

[Samarkand]

The focus of EU membership criteria should be on political and economic standards and regulations, not codified history.

Would you not agree that meeting certain human rights requirements as laid out in the Copenhagen criteria should also be part of that?

And on this basis, I would oppose Turkey's entry.

But no one is suggesting they join today. Rahter when they conform to the various human right standards. Once they conformed, met the various socio-economic standards laid out, would you have a problem?

Some people do, often citing Turkey's geopraphical location as a reason. Funnilly enough the same people never made that argument against Cyprus, 47 miles south of Turkey, just off the coast of Syria.

1. Would like to think that the French Socialists proposed this law for genuine human rights reasons, but there is a Presidential election next year plus France holds EU Presidency in 2nd half of 2007 ...

2. I honestly haven't made up my mind about Turkish membership of the EU yet. I accept pretty much all the reasons put forward for it, always allowing it could only happen when all the human rights issues etc etc have been reached.

3. Wonderful news about Orhan Pamuk. Have read a number of his books and definitely recommend them. Of course, he is only the most high profile writer to be accused of contravening Turkey's laws re freedom of expression.

4. This issue also poses serious questions for us Western liberals. In Turkey, from my limited knowledge of the country, the army represents the Westernised, secular approach to life. However, as we all know, the army has committed pretty horrendous outrages.
Democracy is such a quixotic potion - what do we do when we don't agree with the democratic decision of a people? ..... Algeria in the 1990s, Pakistan since Musharaff ... I have a number of fairly wealthy / middle-class Pakistani acquaintances ... to a man and woman, not one of them would have Benazir or Sharif back ...

5. Finally, Eurocrat, your map incensed me on a totally unrelated subject ... that "(Russia)" that comes after Kaliningrad ... don't get me started on that one ...

[badinage]

Is there any analysis on why France took this step? Is it directed at France's internal Turkish immigrant population (does it have one?), or is it just aimed at signalling to Turkey that France opposes its entry to the EU?