Genocide bill won't end relations with France, AK Party deputy says

The president of the Turko-French inter-parliamentary friendship group, who resigned due to intense pressure from the Turkish public following the passage of a bill through the French lower house of parliament on Dec. 22 seeking to make it illegal to deny that the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks were genocide, stated that the genocide bill does not spell the end of relations with France, which have a long history.

The bill will now be placed on the agenda of the French senate. In an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman on Tuesday, Mehmet Kasım Gulpinar, head of the inter-parliamentary friendship group with France and Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Sanliurfa deputy, said he resigned against his will due to mounting public pressure, and expressed his sadness over the deteriorating relations with France, which has had diplomatic relations with Turkey for centuries. Noting that the group still exists in legal terms even though most of the lawmakers have resigned, Gulpinar pointed out that it would be better to keep the channels of communication open with the French parliament through the friendship group, at least until the senate votes on the bill, which will probably be at the end of January. Open communication might facilitate future efforts to stop approval of the bill in the senate. "The genocide bill is not the end of everything. The friendship between the two countries has a history and must endure forever," Gulpinar said. He added that dropping the bill in the upcoming months could restore the rancorous political ties between Turkey and France. Gulpinar, educated at the French-speaking Tevfik Fikret High School in Ankara, said he was puzzled by the French parliament's decision, saying he had a hard time explaining the significance of the bill to his own family. "Even my kids asked me if we would still be able to go to Disneyland in Paris after the passage of the bill," he said. He added that the bill made his job of promoting bilateral ties very difficult. "I found my French colleagues sharing my concerns over this bill as well," he noted. Gulpinar expressed his hope that sensible French politicians will set things right by killing the bill in the senate. "The bill is a fatal blow to freedom of expression. The bill also put the freedom to travel at risk, in view of the potential penalties [that Turks might face in France]," Gulpinar said, to emphasize that the bill may negatively affect tourism, as most Turks might not choose France as their vacation destination. Gulpinar said he hopes the French senate will drop the bill. He noted that the senate's possible quashing of the bill will mend fences and bolster cooperation between the two countries.