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GENOCIDE

Reinfeldt welcomes Turkish ambassador

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt welcomed Turkey's ambassador to Sweden, Zergün Korutürk, back to Stockholm on Thursday after her recall to Ankara following the Swedish parliament's recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Reinfeldt welcomes Turkish ambassador

Fredrik Reinfeldt “welcomes that she is coming back to Sweden. It’s good that our diplomatic relations are (maintained),” the prime minister’s spokesperson Roberta Alenius told AFP.

Ambassador Zergün Korutürk arrived in the Swedish capital on Tuesday. Before her departure, she told reporters in Ankara her return to Sweden became possible after the Swedish government distanced itself from the parliament’s decision.

“The Swedish government has clearly said that the decision would not be put into practice,” Korutürk was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.

Korutürk was summoned back to Ankara on March 11th after the Swedish

parliament voted by a narrow margin a opposition-led resolution to recognise

the Ottoman massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide, despite the

government’s advice not to do so.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt later expressed regret over the parliament’s decision to Ankara, a move which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called “very positive”.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt also said that the position of his government, which supports Turkey’s entry into the European Union, “remains unchanged”.

“Our foreign minister also met his Turkish counterpart and he met some Turkish groups living here, so we’ve been involved in this,” Alenius said.

“We had good relations with Turkey and want this to continue,” she added.

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ISLAM

Erdogan calls French separatism bill ‘guillotine’ of democracy

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday denounced a planned French law designed to counter "Islamist separatism" as a "guillotine" of democracy.

Erdogan calls French separatism bill 'guillotine' of democracy
Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as "anti-Muslim". Photo: Adem ALTAN/AFP

The draft legislation has been criticised both inside France and abroad for stigmatising Muslims and giving the state new powers to limit speech and religious groups.

“The adoption of this law, which is openly in contradiction of human rights, freedom of religion and European values, will be a guillotine blow inflicted on French democracy,” said Erdogan in a speech in Ankara.

The current version of the planned law would only serve the cause of extremism, putting NGOs under pressure and “forcing young people to choose between their beliefs and their education”, he added.

READ ALSO: What’s in France’s new law to crack down on Islamist extremism?

“We call on the French authorities, and first of all President (Emmanuel) Macron, to act sensibly,” he continued. “We expect a rapid withdrawal of this bill.”

Erdogan also said he was ready to work with France on security issues and integration, but relations between the two leaders have been strained for some time.

France’s government is in the process of passing new legislation to crack down on what it has termed “Islamist separatism”, which would give the state more power to vet and disband religious groups judged to be threats to the nation.

Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as “anti-Muslim”.

READ ALSO: Has Macron succeeded in creating an ‘Islam for France’?

Last October, Erdogan questioned Macron’s “mental health”, accusing him of waging a “campaign of hatred” against Islam, after the French president defended the right of cartoonists to caricature the prophet Mohammed.

The two countries are also at odds on a number of other issues, including Libya, Syria and the eastern Mediterranean.

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