Vote-mongering politicians

The lower house of the French parliament recently passed a piece of legislation that would make it a crime to deny the Armenian genocide happened. (On the flip side, it is a crime in Turkey to say that the genocide happened.) On its face, this is entirely absurd, especially for a country that essentially debated the concepts of modern democracy that the US government was built on. The government is essentially banning the ability to debate the topic and curbing the right to free expression on the topic of the Armenian genocide. And how is this any different from the oppression of free speech in Turkey?

The situation then begs the question of: Why? Why this bill again (it was introduced previously in 2006--at that time, a newspaper owner in Turkey--Hrant Dink--stated that he would be willing to go to jail in France for denying the genocide, just as he would be wiling to go to jail in Turkey for stating the events did happen)? Why at this time?

Practically, the bill serves no purpose other than to piss off Turkey. It further deteriorates relations between the two countries and threatens trade. France is Turkey's fifth largest trading partner and two-way trade is worth some $14 billion a year. Add the fact that France has been vehemently opposed to Turkish membership in the European Union (why in the world would they want to join now, anyway?), and this current row certainly doesn't help.

So what then is the reason behind this bill?

As a government relations professional (otherwise known as a corrupt lobbyist), I can step back from a debate and view things from a non-partisan perspective, understanding a situation from a purely political or policy perspective without the overbearing influence of following the party line. That said, here's my opinion of the bill.

The legislation is authored by French member of parliament Valerie Boyer. She is of the same party as President Nicholas Sarkozy, the UMP. Sarkozy is facing a tough reelection battle in 2012 and he's down in the polls. The cynical lobbyist side of me thinks that he's looking to exploit the genocide as a way to curry the Armenian vote in France. (There are somewhere between 300,000 to 400,000 Armenians in France.)

I guess politicians all over the world are the same. As Dink stated when the 2006 bill was being debated, healing the wounds of history should be left to Turks and Armenians, not vote-mongering politicians.

As a side note, the upper house of parliament is set to vote on the bill in late January.