France and the Turks

Since my blog is supposed to be about Francophone culture in addition to my daily trials as a classroom teacher, I should probably discuss what's going on in France right now. France and Turkey have not got along for ages. Turkey wants to enter the European Union, France does not want Turkey in the EU. This presents a problem for Turkey, because France is one of the Founding members of the EEC (European Economic Community). Last year France voted against the EU Constitution, which in so many words, would have allowed nations such as Turkey to eventually gain admission into the EU. France must pass the Constitution for it to become a legal document. Thursday, in a bid to further upset Turks, France's lower Parliament (pictured above) passed a law making it illegal to deny that Armenians suffered genocide in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. Turkish officials reject the word genocide. This same type of law was put in place in 1990 for anyone denying the existence of concentration camps during the 2nd World War. There have actually been instances of people fined and imprisoned for the denial. France's motto since the French Revolution has been Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.(Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood). So much for the rights of all men.