ARFD: French Senate likely to approve Armenian Genocide bill

PanARMENIAN.Net - Adoption of the bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide is the response of France to Turkey's policy of denial, according to ARF Bureau political affairs office director.

“However we still face a crucial discussion of the bill in the Senate,” Kiro Manoyan told a press conference in Yerevan.

According to him, the possibility of adoption of the bill by the Senate is very high, however, this doesn’t mean that the process will be easy.

Manoyan disagreed with the opinion of some experts that the adoption might be related to Armenian-Turkish relations. "The adoption of the bill has nothing to do with Armenian-Turkish relations. This can be attributed to other circumstances, for instance, with the upcoming elections in France," Manoyan said, adding that French National Assembly’s decision will facilitate passage of similar bills in other European countries.

On December 22, French National Assembly passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial. The draft law envisages a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros for those who publicly deny the Armenian Genocide in France.