Public Television of Armenia
Dec 22 2011
Armenian politicians, youth welcome French "genocide" bill
Armenian politicians and the youth have welcomed the adoption of the
French bill that makes it illegal to deny the killings of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as "genocide".
In an interview with Armenian Public TV on 22 December, Davit
Harutyunyan, the Armenian MP and the member of Republican Party of
Armenia, said: "I think it is a courageous step and it has been done
in a right moment."
"In the light of human rights protection, this bill is important not
only for Armenia, but for all the peoples living on the Earth,"
Harutyunyan said.
Member of the opposition Heritage party Armen Martirosyan expressed
the hope in an interview with the TV that the "bill will be adopted by
the French Senate's upper chamber as well, thus ensuring legal
punishment for the consequences of the Armenian genocide".
Armenian Revolutionary Federation -Dashnaktsutyun MP Armen Rustamyan
called on the other countries to follow France's example and expressed
confidence that the adoption of the bill would give a new impetus for
the international recognition of the "genocide".
"It has already become clear for everyone that the process of the
international recognition of the Armenian genocide can no longer be
stopped. This process is beyond bilateral relations. It is a process
that has been already included in the international agenda," Rustamyan
said.
Coordinator of the opposition umbrella group Armenian National
Congress Levon Zurabyan welcomed the adoption of the bill, saying that
"genocide is the heaviest crime against people, the denial of which
should be punished".
"At last, the truth has triumphed," said the organization's
coordinator Gevorg Vardanyan. "It [adoption of the bill] has given us
an important sense of victory in the further struggle for the
recognition of the Armenian genocide," head of the Armenian National
Congress Hakob Hakobyan added.
The TV showed a video in which a group of activists of the Miasin
youth organization gathering outside the French embassy in Yerevan,
carrying the Armenian and French flags, waving posters reading words
of gratitude in Armenian and French.
In an interview with the TV, director of the Armenian genocide museum
Hayk Demoyan described the Turkish reaction to the bill as a "total
fiasco".
"Today, Turkey has devaluated the ground which could serve as a real
basis for the establishment of bilateral ties. Today, Turkey tried to
take advantage of its role [on the international scene] but slipped
up. And these two adopted bills [US Congress bill on the return of
Christian churches and confiscated properties in Turkey and France's
Armenian "genocide" bill] are rather harsh and serious messages sent
to Ankara," Demoyan said.
[translated from Armenian]
Dec 22 2011
Armenian politicians, youth welcome French "genocide" bill
Armenian politicians and the youth have welcomed the adoption of the
French bill that makes it illegal to deny the killings of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as "genocide".
In an interview with Armenian Public TV on 22 December, Davit
Harutyunyan, the Armenian MP and the member of Republican Party of
Armenia, said: "I think it is a courageous step and it has been done
in a right moment."
"In the light of human rights protection, this bill is important not
only for Armenia, but for all the peoples living on the Earth,"
Harutyunyan said.
Member of the opposition Heritage party Armen Martirosyan expressed
the hope in an interview with the TV that the "bill will be adopted by
the French Senate's upper chamber as well, thus ensuring legal
punishment for the consequences of the Armenian genocide".
Armenian Revolutionary Federation -Dashnaktsutyun MP Armen Rustamyan
called on the other countries to follow France's example and expressed
confidence that the adoption of the bill would give a new impetus for
the international recognition of the "genocide".
"It has already become clear for everyone that the process of the
international recognition of the Armenian genocide can no longer be
stopped. This process is beyond bilateral relations. It is a process
that has been already included in the international agenda," Rustamyan
said.
Coordinator of the opposition umbrella group Armenian National
Congress Levon Zurabyan welcomed the adoption of the bill, saying that
"genocide is the heaviest crime against people, the denial of which
should be punished".
"At last, the truth has triumphed," said the organization's
coordinator Gevorg Vardanyan. "It [adoption of the bill] has given us
an important sense of victory in the further struggle for the
recognition of the Armenian genocide," head of the Armenian National
Congress Hakob Hakobyan added.
The TV showed a video in which a group of activists of the Miasin
youth organization gathering outside the French embassy in Yerevan,
carrying the Armenian and French flags, waving posters reading words
of gratitude in Armenian and French.
In an interview with the TV, director of the Armenian genocide museum
Hayk Demoyan described the Turkish reaction to the bill as a "total
fiasco".
"Today, Turkey has devaluated the ground which could serve as a real
basis for the establishment of bilateral ties. Today, Turkey tried to
take advantage of its role [on the international scene] but slipped
up. And these two adopted bills [US Congress bill on the return of
Christian churches and confiscated properties in Turkey and France's
Armenian "genocide" bill] are rather harsh and serious messages sent
to Ankara," Demoyan said.
[translated from Armenian]