PACE chairman: Bill criminalizing "Armenian genocide" deprives person of freedom of speech

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.12 / Trend A. Taghiyeva / Consideration of a bill on the so-called "Armenian genocide" by the French Parliament is an example of depriving a person of his fundamental right - freedom of speech, the Turkish Zaman newspaper quotes Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying. According to Cavusoglu, Turkey should take steps to prevent the adoption of the bill by France, and intercultural and inter-religious dialogue is the most successful way in this regard. Lower Chamber of the French Parliament adopted a bill criminalizing the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide". Some 45 out of 577 French MPs participated in the voting, while 38 voted for and seven voted against the adoption of the bill. The bill demands about a year's imprisonment and a fine worth 45,000 euros for denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide". In response to this decision Turkey announced that it freezes all diplomatic relations with France. 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