France 24
July 7 2012
Hollande pushes new law to criminalise denial of Armenian genocide
French president François Hollande confirmed Saturday that he plans
to push a new law that would criminalise the denial of the 1915-1916
Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turkey. A French court ruled Thursday the
law was unconstitutional.
AFP – French President Francois Hollande confirmed Saturday plans for
a new law criminalising denial of the Armenian genocide with
representatives of the Armenian community, the Elysee Palace said.
The historical question has long been a hot-button issue between
Turkey and Armenia, a dispute that has also drawn in other countries
and earlier this year sparked a diplomatic crisis between Paris and
Ankara.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in a
1915-16 genocide by Turkey’s former Ottoman Empire. Turkey says
500,000 died and ascribes the toll to fighting and starvation during
World War I.
Hollande’s conservative predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy angered Ankara
when he pushed ahead with a bill to criminalise denial of the Armenian
genocide.
After the contentious bill passed the National Assembly in December,
Turkey retaliated by suspending military and political cooperation
with Paris.
But France’s top constitutional court struck down the bill in
February, saying it violated free expression, in a ruling welcomed by
Ankara.
Sarkozy vowed to launch a new law but was defeated at the polls.
Now his Socialist successor Hollande has clarified in a talk with the
Coordinating Council of Armenian Organisations of France (CCAF) that
he will propose a similar law, the group said Saturday.
“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,” said the group.
It said Hollande had contacted them to clarify his position after
confusion over statements by his Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
The Elysee Palace confirmed the telephone conversation and told AFP:
“The president expressed his commitments during the campaign. He will
keep them.”
“There is no change, although we must find a path, a road that allows
for a text that is consistent with the constitution.”
Both candidates marked the Armenian genocide anniversary in Paris in
April by attending a ceremony and expressing support for the passage
of a newly-worded bill that would outlaw genocide denial. France is
home to a large Armenian community.
US President Barack Obama in April called for “a full, frank, and just
acknowledgment of the facts” of the “brutal” killings.
While denouncing the 1915 massacre as “one of the worst atrocities of
the 20th century,” Obama did not use the term “genocide,” but he
implicitly called for Turkey to acknowledge the role of its Ottoman
forefathers.
After Hollande was elected, Turkey in June praised his positive
attitude toward relations with Ankara.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Hollande on the
sidelines of a UN meeting in Brazil, when the two leaders agreed to
turn a “new page” in relations, the Anatolia news agency reported.
From: A. Papazian