PACE member Koc: banning debate on historical incidents is against ECHR

STRASBOURG (A.A) – January 24, 2012 – Haluk Koc, a member of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said that it was against the article 10 of European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to ban debating historical incidents. Koc said that Turkey was faced with an unfair accusation, adding that the bill was also against freedom of thought and expression. French Senate on Monday adopted a bill that criminalizes the denial of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915. The bill was adopted by a vote of 127 against 86. With the adoption of the Armenian bill at the French Senate, the denial of Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915 would be penalized with a prison term of one year and a monetary fine of 45,000 euros in France.