Azerbaijan's ruling party strongly condemns French law on "Armenian genocide"

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan 24 / Trend M.Aliyev/ Adoption of the law criminalising the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" by the French senate became a black mark on the modern history of the country, deputy chairman and executive secretary of the ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan Ali Akhmedov told Trend. Mr Akhmedov noted that this law is directed not only against Turkey, but also opposes human rights and freedom of speech. "Trust in the sincerity of France as a country that promotes democratic values will decline seriously after this," he said adding that the law adopted in France also affects the interests of Azerbaijan, because it shows that France openly supports Armenia. Referring to the activities of France in the Minsk Group, Mr Akhmedov said that Azerbaijan was critical about it and calls for the removal of France as co-chairman will only grow now. The French Senate which is the Upper House of parliament adopted the bill. Some 127 senators voted in favour, while 86 were against on Jan.23. The Lower Chamber of the French Parliament adopted a bill criminalising the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" earlier on Dec 22, 2011. Some 45 out of 577 French MPs participated in the voting, while 38 voted for and seven against the adoption of the bill. The bill demands about a year's imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine for denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide". MPs from the French President's Union for Popular Movement (UMP) party which has the parliamentary majority, proposed the bill which aims at criminalising denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" to the legislative committee of the National Assembly in early December. Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the Turkey - Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against the Armenians living in Anadolu, and achieved recognition of the "Armenian Genocide" by the parliaments of several countries. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az