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France pushes for quick adoption of controversial genocide bill Eds

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  • France pushes for quick adoption of controversial genocide bill Eds

    Deutsche Presse-Agentur , Germany
    Jan 4 2012


    France pushes for quick adoption of controversial genocide bill Eds:
    Adds ambassador to return to Paris



    Jan. 04--PARIS -- The French government is planning to hurry the
    adoption of a bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered
    genocide, at the risk of incurring further sanctions from Turkey,
    France Info public radio reported Wednesday.

    According to the broadcaster, the government plans to put the
    controversial bill on the agenda of the Senate by the end of January.

    The bill was adopted by the lower house of parliament on December 22,
    prompting a furious reaction from Turkey, which recalled its
    ambassador and suspended contacts and military cooperation with Paris.

    It now needs Senate approval to become law.

    If the bill passes the Senate, as is expected, people who deny that
    the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I
    constituted genocide will face a one-year jail term and a fine of up
    to 45,000 euros (58,000 dollars).

    On Wednesday, the Turkish embassy in Paris said ambassador Tahsin
    Burcuoglu would return to France to continue lobbying against the
    legislation.

    "He will come back in four or five days' time," embassy spokesman
    Engin Solakoglu told dpa. "He will try stop this bill being adopted by
    the Senate."

    More than 15 countries have recognized the slaughter of up to 1.5
    million Armenians during the break-up of the Ottoman Empire as
    genocide.

    Turkey admits that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died, but denies
    there was a systematic policy to eliminate them.

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused French
    President Nicolas Sarkozy of seizing on the sensitive issue in order
    to win votes from France's small but influential Armenian community in
    this year's presidential and parliamentary elections.



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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