Finnish Foreign Minister calls Armenia bill 'foolish'

Finland currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

His comments were published on a foreign ministry website.

"Parliaments shouldn’t make laws regarding historical facts," he said.

"Lawmakers should never intervene in such self-evident and self-questioning political arguments and the atmosphere of debate that emerges in the aftermath through legislating them. However, France unfortunately did not behave according to this principle with the Armenian genocide bill that passed the lower house. I think France has made a big mistake and it should quit this mistake immediately."

He also remarked, "I personally think that 'genocide' is the right term to describe what was experienced at that time and I hope Turkey will become ready to accept this reality."

Finland's foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja opined that it would not be politically astute for parliaments and governments to legislate historical facts.

"The EU has repeatedly demanded that Turkey abolish the notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Many Turks, including the Nobel Prize winning writer Orhan Pamuk have been sued so far, using this law that considers that the thoughts they expressed were offensive to the Turkish state. Now conservative people in Turkey might not pay heed to the EU's calls and may question whether the EU has such a right."

In the meantime, two prominent French historians, Pierre Nora and Francoise Chandernagor, repeated their criticism of the bill in question.

Speaking on French television on France-3 in an open debate, Nora stated "Those under the influence of Armenian voters, also the deputies against Turkey's EU membership process, are taking advantage of this bill."

Chandernagor, who said that the bill had opened a Pandora's Box, stated, "There is no end to this; there are approximately 15 bills waiting to be discussed about historical events; even about the Crusades. Where will this lead us?"

The Association of Freedom for History, founded by Nora and Chandernagor with a group of French academics, has harshly opposed the bill. Zaman