Turkish Parliament May Discuss Algerian Genocide Law

PanARMENIAN.Net - It is not clear just what kind of official retaliatory move Turkey will take after the French National Assembly adopted a bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial. The Turkish Parliament Justice Sub-committee launched studies about a law proposal that would make it a crime to deny that France committed genocide in Algeria. Members of the committee listened to Turkish History Society President Professor Yusuf Halacoglu and officials from the foreign ministry in their first meeting yesterday. Halacoglu claimed that Armenians were freer than Turks during Ottoman times, recalling that Armenian citizens did not have to perform compulsory military service until 1876. The history of countries that officially recognize the Armenian Genocide will also be examined in this context to see whether such cases occurred in their own past. The study will explain the circumstances under which Turkey "decided to deport" Armenians in 1915, reports zaman.com.