Turkey's Ambassador to France Tahsin Burcuoğlu has delivered letters to the 86 French senators who voted against the controversial denial bill in Monday's senate vote, in hopes they will sign a petition to take the bill to France's superior court, on the grounds the bill violates the French constitution and its founding base of freedom of expression.
Burcuoğlu's initiative follows Monday's senate approval of the bill, which passed through the senate through a narrower-than-expected majority despite support from both the ruling and main opposition parties. Despite the approval, French senators can take the bill to the constitutional court, where it can be thrown out if the court decides the bill is compromising French law. The appeals case needs the signature of 60 lawmakers; currently the number of opponents who have already signed the petition stands at 35.
However, Burcuoğlu's campaign might get stalled due to pressure from the major parties, which have pressured their lawmakers not to sign the petition. French senator Jacques Mézard, however, noted it was the first time a signature campaign against a bill has received support from senators of six different blocs. Burcuoğlu has until Tuesday to convince more lawmakers, but his chances are believed to be very weak.
Meanwhile, a recent poll in France revealed that 93 percent of the French nation was shocked by France's making laws on other countries, signaling a blowback on French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who engineered the denial bill, allegedly to garner support from French voters in the upcoming elections. Polls also show Sarkozy fell behind his main rival, Socialist François Hollande, by a margin of 20 points.
