WSJ Editorial: It's France that's in Denial
By passing a bill to outlaw the denial of World War I-era massacres of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as a "genocide," lawmakers at the National Assembly in Paris on Thursday moved French legislation in line with Turkey's, which makes it a crime not to deny that the massacres were a genocide. Both produce the same outcome, the suppression of free speech.
Kemal Atatürk modeled his modern Turkey on France. In both laïcité, or secularism, means the subordination of church to state. Speech codes, though contrary to the spirit of the EU, are faithful to the authoritarian roots of both Republics.
We hope Turks resist any temptation to reciprocate last week's gesture in Paris by, say, criminalizing any denial of French complicity in the deaths of tens of thousands of Jews in Vichy France or taking note of the one million killed -- a genocide? -- during the 1954-62 Algerian war of independence. France's historical closet is as full of ghosts as Turkey's.
That response, or any other rash action by the Turks, would be as irresponsible and cynical as the behavior of French politicians in recent weeks. Presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy last month ruled out Turkish membership in the EU, no matter what. In a visit to Armenia late last month, Jacques Chirac said Ankara had to recognize the "genocide" or forget about the EU, an innovative new "condition" for membership. Thursday's speech bill was a brainchild of the opposition Socialists, all too eager to jump on the anti-Turk bandwagon. It's unlikely to be made law, as President Chirac opposes it, but more damage to relations between Turkey and Europe has already been done.
At this rate, Turkey may be a freer country than France. Last year, a major academic conference took place in Istanbul on the complex and much debated events of 1915-1919. Turkey's vaguely worded speech laws allow nationalists to launch prosecutions intended to silence prominent voices, but the government recognizes the need to change them. Turkish democracy, thanks in large part to the carrot of EU membership, has never been as vibrant as it is today. What a shame if a few French politicians succeed in throwing this moderate Muslim neighbor off track.
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Kemal Atatürk modeled his modern Turkey on France. In both laïcité, or secularism, means the subordination of church to state. Speech codes, though contrary to the spirit of the EU, are faithful to the authoritarian roots of both Republics.
We hope Turks resist any temptation to reciprocate last week's gesture in Paris by, say, criminalizing any denial of French complicity in the deaths of tens of thousands of Jews in Vichy France or taking note of the one million killed -- a genocide? -- during the 1954-62 Algerian war of independence. France's historical closet is as full of ghosts as Turkey's.
That response, or any other rash action by the Turks, would be as irresponsible and cynical as the behavior of French politicians in recent weeks. Presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy last month ruled out Turkish membership in the EU, no matter what. In a visit to Armenia late last month, Jacques Chirac said Ankara had to recognize the "genocide" or forget about the EU, an innovative new "condition" for membership. Thursday's speech bill was a brainchild of the opposition Socialists, all too eager to jump on the anti-Turk bandwagon. It's unlikely to be made law, as President Chirac opposes it, but more damage to relations between Turkey and Europe has already been done.
At this rate, Turkey may be a freer country than France. Last year, a major academic conference took place in Istanbul on the complex and much debated events of 1915-1919. Turkey's vaguely worded speech laws allow nationalists to launch prosecutions intended to silence prominent voices, but the government recognizes the need to change them. Turkish democracy, thanks in large part to the carrot of EU membership, has never been as vibrant as it is today. What a shame if a few French politicians succeed in throwing this moderate Muslim neighbor off track.