Authorities resorting to threats should be condemned – French MP

December 22, 2011 - 13:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Authorities resorting to threats should be condemned, the author of the bill penalizing public denial of the Armenian Genocide in her address to French National Assembly prior to the vote on the motion.

Expressing her indignation with the stance of Turkish authorities, Valerie Boyer stressed that the overall situation was similar at time of recognition of Armenian Genocide in 2001, however, this did not prevent increase in trade volumes between France and Turley.

The MP highlighted that “her point is not historical part. The bill is an amendment to law on Armenian Genocide and is not directed against any country.”

“This bill is called to reduce the pain of Armenians who found shelter in France after the Genocide and who are French citizens now,” concluded Boyer.

Today, December 22, the French parliament is to debate the bill, which envisages a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros for those who publicly deny the Armenian Genocide in France.

Turkey has piled pressure on France to drop the law ahead of the vote, with President Abdullah Gul and a Turkish delegation to Paris warning its adoption will spark a diplomatic crisis and have economic consequences.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu threatened to introduce a bill on “the genocide committed by France in Algeria, where 45000 local residents died in 1945.” PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu laid “the responsibility of possible worsening of relations between Paris and Ankara on Nicolas Sarkozy.”

Meanwhile, many French politicians stand for adoption of the bill. “The Armenian Genocide is a fact of history and a proposed French law making it illegal to deny this has nothing to do with forthcoming elections,” France's Minister for Europe Jean Leonetti has said.