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July 8 2012
French President Hollande vows new Armenia `genocide law'
French President Francois Hollande has said he plans a new law to
punish denial that the 1915-16 killing of Armenians was genocide.
A previous law approved by the French parliament was struck down in
February by the Constitutional Council, which said it infringed
freedom of speech.
Turkey rejects the term `genocide' for the deaths of Armenians in
during their deportation by the Ottoman Empire.
The issue has strained Franco-Turkish relations in recent years.
Mr Hollande's predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy had also ordered his
government to draft a new law after the old one was struck down.
`Francois Hollande has again expressed his willingness to propose a
bill designed to curb the denial of the Armenian genocide, as he had
said during his campaign and even before,' the Coordinating Council of
Armenian Organisations of France (CCAF) told the AFP news agency.
A delegation from the CCAF will meet Mr Hollande before the end of the
month to discuss what form the new law would take, French media
reports say.
On Thursday, remarks by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius during
a meeting with his Turkish counterpart appeared to indicate that the
Constitutional Council's ruling would make it impossible to take up
the issue again.
However, Mr Hollande's office said on Saturday: `The president
expressed his commitments during the campaign. He will keep them.
`We must find a path, a road that allows for a text that is consistent
with the constitution.'
Tragic bond
The vote on the previous bill in January spurred angry protests in
both in Paris and Ankara. The Turkish government suspended political
and military co-operation with France.
The Turkish government argues that judging what happened in eastern
Turkey in 1915-16 should be left to historians, and that the new
French law would have restricted freedom of speech.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-16 as the Ottoman
empire split. Turkey has said the number of deaths was much smaller.
The killings are regarded as the seminal event of modern Armenian
history, a tragic bond uniting one of the world's most dispersed
peoples.
Among the other states which formally recognise them as genocide are
Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay. The UK,
US, Israel and others use different terminology.
France is home to an estimated 500,000 ethnic Armenians while about
550,000 Turkish citizens also live in the country.
http://updatednews.ca/2012/07/07/french-president-hollande-vows-new-armenia-genocide-law/
July 8 2012
French President Hollande vows new Armenia `genocide law'
French President Francois Hollande has said he plans a new law to
punish denial that the 1915-16 killing of Armenians was genocide.
A previous law approved by the French parliament was struck down in
February by the Constitutional Council, which said it infringed
freedom of speech.
Turkey rejects the term `genocide' for the deaths of Armenians in
during their deportation by the Ottoman Empire.
The issue has strained Franco-Turkish relations in recent years.
Mr Hollande's predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy had also ordered his
government to draft a new law after the old one was struck down.
`Francois Hollande has again expressed his willingness to propose a
bill designed to curb the denial of the Armenian genocide, as he had
said during his campaign and even before,' the Coordinating Council of
Armenian Organisations of France (CCAF) told the AFP news agency.
A delegation from the CCAF will meet Mr Hollande before the end of the
month to discuss what form the new law would take, French media
reports say.
On Thursday, remarks by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius during
a meeting with his Turkish counterpart appeared to indicate that the
Constitutional Council's ruling would make it impossible to take up
the issue again.
However, Mr Hollande's office said on Saturday: `The president
expressed his commitments during the campaign. He will keep them.
`We must find a path, a road that allows for a text that is consistent
with the constitution.'
Tragic bond
The vote on the previous bill in January spurred angry protests in
both in Paris and Ankara. The Turkish government suspended political
and military co-operation with France.
The Turkish government argues that judging what happened in eastern
Turkey in 1915-16 should be left to historians, and that the new
French law would have restricted freedom of speech.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-16 as the Ottoman
empire split. Turkey has said the number of deaths was much smaller.
The killings are regarded as the seminal event of modern Armenian
history, a tragic bond uniting one of the world's most dispersed
peoples.
Among the other states which formally recognise them as genocide are
Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay. The UK,
US, Israel and others use different terminology.
France is home to an estimated 500,000 ethnic Armenians while about
550,000 Turkish citizens also live in the country.
http://updatednews.ca/2012/07/07/french-president-hollande-vows-new-armenia-genocide-law/