Ankara 'concerned' over European initiative to combat racism and xenophobia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey has expressed 'concerns' over a new German initiative to combat racism and xenophobia with a template European law that could spread moves in France and elsewhere to criminalize any denial of the Armenian Genocide.



The draft framework, essentially a recommended legal blueprint for European Union governments to follow, is very likely to serve as a recipe for other countries to follow the example of a French vote last October when a bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide was endorsed, the Turkish Daily News reports.



This is a very wrong draft, which excludes a UN convention and brushes aside freedom of expression and academic studies, government spokesman Cemil Cicek told reporters after a Cabinet meeting late on Monday.



The draft negotiating framework penalizing the denial of genocide and sentencing deniers up to three year in prison will appear on the agenda between April 18 and 19 under the German presidency of the European Union, Cicek said.



He said Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had conveyed Turkish concerns over the draft to Germany during a visit last week, adding that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would bring the issue onto the agenda when he had talks with German officials during a planned visit to Germany over the weekend.