ISTANBUL: France sets date to vote `genocide’ bill

Hurriyet Daily News (press release)
Jan 6 2012

France sets date to vote `genocide’ bill
PARIS

Presidential Board of French Senate will take the bill penalizing
denial of 1915 incidents as genocide into its agenda on Jan. 10. Then
it will proceed to the Constitution Commission who will decide whether
the bill complies with the constitution, daily Hürriyet reported
yesterday.

The commission will subsequently send the bill back to the Senate. As
the French Senate’s agenda is full until Jan. 22, the bill is expected
to be debated between Jan. 23 and 31. France already recognized the
1915 incident as `genocide’ back in 2001, but the new bill would
punish anyone who denies this with a year in jail and a fine of 45,000
euros ($60,000). The French Lower House approved the law Dec. 22,
2011, threatening jail to anyone who denies killings of Armenians by
Ottoman Turk forces amounted to `genocide.’ Meanwhile, Turkey may
intensify its retaliation against France if the French Senate votes
the bill this month, a Turkish diplomatic source said yesterday.
`There may be a downgrading of the Turkish diplomatic representation
in Paris,’ the source told Agence France-Presse yesterday. If the
French Senate approves the bill criminalizing denial of the disputed
1915 genocide, `it is probable.’ Meanwhile, France’s presidential
contest got personal Jan. 4 after Socialist challenger Francois
Hollande branded Nicolas Sarkozy a `nasty piece of work.’ Le Parisien
article said Hollande spoke of Sarkozy as a `failed president’ and a
`sale mec,’ a French term that roughly translates as `nasty piece of
work’ or `nasty guy.’

January/06/2012

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress