Turkey accuses France of genocide in Armenia row

Turkey accuses France of genocide
in Armenia row

About 3,000 French nationals of Turkish origin demonstrated peacefully ahead of the vote Photo: AFP/GETTY

The war of words between France and Turkey has escalated, when the Turkish premier accused Paris of committing genocide in Algeria and of stirring hatred of Muslims.

Daily Telegraph
Dec 23, 2011

Furious that the French lower chamber had voted on Thursday to outlaw denial of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit back directly at France's President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Earlier, Turkey's ambassador to France had left Paris and Ankara had announced diplomatic sanctions – banning political visits between the countries – and frozen military ties between the nominal Nato allies.

"France massacred an estimated 15 per cent of the Algerian population starting from 1945. This is genocide," Mr Erdogan said, accusing Mr Sarkozy of "fanning hatred of Muslims and Turks for electoral gains."

"This vote that took place in France, a France in which five million Muslims live, clearly shows to what point racism, discrimination and Islamophobia have reached dangerous levels in France and Europe," he said.

Paris appeared to have been caught out by the fury of Turkey's response.

"I respect the views of our Turkish friends – it's a great country, a great civilisation – and they must respect ours," Mr Sarkozy said in Prague where he was at the funeral of late Czech President Vaclav Havel.Continued