European libreals, democrats criticize French "genocide" law

European liberals and democrats have slammed a French law that makes it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago constituted genocide, saying the move was "incomprehensible." Alexander Graf Lambsdorff from Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP) said in a statement that the genocide-denial bill is an additional burden on already strained Turkish-European relations, adding that apart from a few, narrowly defined and politically justified exceptions, assertions of historical facts should be left to historians and should certainly not be made a crime. The French Parliament approved the bill late Monday, risking more sanctions from Turkey and complicating an already delicate relationship with the rising power. Officials in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government insisted the vote didn't directly target Turkey. Sarkozy -- who personally supported the bill -- plans to sign the measure into law within the required 15-day period after the bill's passage on Monday, an official in the presidential Elysee Palace told The Associated Press. Saber-rattling on Tuesday by Turkey, which has not announced any sanctions against France as of yet, is interpreted in Paris as a wish by Turkish leaders to buy time. Turkey, which sees the allegations of genocide as a threat to its national honor, has already suspended military, economic and political ties with Paris, and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when the lower house of French Parliament approved the same bill. For some in France, the bill is part of a tradition of legislation in some European countries, born of the agonies of the Holocaust, that criminalizes the denial of genocide. Denying the Holocaust is already a punishable crime in France. Turkey asserts there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of the empire. It also claims that the death toll is inflated. Lambsdorff said the vote in the Senate is all the more incomprehensible because the alleged Turkish genocide of Armenians in 1915 is an event in which France was not involved in any way. However, he called on Turkey to show restraint, saying: "There is a risk that Turkey might over-react but for a country in the middle of accession negotiations with the EU it is important to react with moderation and avoid adding to anti-Turkish sentiment. The lines must be kept open between Ankara and Paris as this would inevitably impact wider Turkish-European relations." Andrew Duff from the UK's Liberal Democrats said the French Parliament is wrong to play the role of a court. "The definition of genocide is properly a judicial matter and should not be reduced to the banality of party politics," said Duff, who is also the member of EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee.