Azeri parliament had exerted efforts against French denial bill, deputy parliament chief says

BAKU (A.A) - January 30, 2012 - Deputy head of the Azeri parliament has said the parliament had exerted efforts to avert a French bill that penalizes denial of Armenian allegations on Ottoman era incidents of 1915. Bahar Muradova despite the French senate's eventual approval of the denial bill the Azeri parliament had tried to prevent the bill from passing. "Azerbaijan stood on Turkey's side on this specific issue. We have stood side by side with Turkey in the past and we will continue to do so in the future," Muradova said rejecting "attempts to cast a shadow on the relations between the two countries." The French senate has adopted the bill that makes denial of Armenian allegations punishable with a one year of prison sentence and a fine of 45 thousand euros.