PARIS—While meeting with representatives of the French-Armenian community at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday, French President President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that he would present a new draft of a law criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide, reported journalist Jean Eckian.
“Mr. Sarkozy is aware of the sensitivities we have as French-Armenians over this matter,” Armenian National Committee of France chairman Mourad Papazian told the Hurriyet Daily News yesterday, before attending the meeting.
The French Constitutional Council ruled as unconstitutional a bill that criminalizes the denial of the Armenian Genocide and was approved by both houses of the French legislature. Sarkozy and his main opponent Socialist candidate Francois Hollande both pledged to re-introduce a similar bill after the elections.
“Both Sarkozy and his frontrunner rival Francois Hollande are in agreement over the draft proposal [to criminalize] denial of the genocide,” said Papazian. “Moreover, as Armenians we are going to continue waging our righteous struggle and pick it up where it was left once again,” Papazian said.
“[Sarkozy] maintained his stance regarding the Armenian genocide till the end. He called on Turkey to recognize the genocide and paved the way for Parliament to vote on the law,” said Papazian.
“We do not possess Turkey’s material capabilities. All we have is our just cause and our struggle in that vein. We are going to continue waging our struggle until Turkey recognizes the genocide. Both Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Hollande will continue lending their support to our righteous struggle,” said Papazian.
“Of course, a new draft proposal will come about, but we are now entering the process of elections. We are going to pick up our righteous struggle where we left off [after the elections],” said Garo Yalick, adviser to Valeri Boyer, the French parliament member who authored the original bill.
Cam we just stop wasting money and effort on these liars. Send your money to Armenia so they can buy weapons.
I live in France and there is a more general understanding and discussion of the Armenian Massacres here than, for example, the UK, where apart from the Armenian community, I’ve never heard it discussed. In France you see occasional reports on national television about memorials, the issues with Turkey etc but in the UK there is virtually nothing.
Go, Go, Sarkozy, make them pay dearly for their policy in Syria, which left Syria in the hands of Russians
Actually dude, Sarkozy was a staunch supporter of the mess in the Syria btw so check your facts before you say stuff man.
BS! Sarkozy could have put it into law immediately but waited. He knew the Council would reject it since its members are pro-turk. After the elections he won’t reintroduce anything (I hope I’m wrong). If he was so for it, why didn’t he sign it in right away????? Remember there are over 550,000 Turks in France. France also has huge contracts with Turkey. Sarkozy, in my opinion, was only testing the waters.
Here is a new strategy for France. Armenians should for now abandon criminalizing the Genocide, and instead sue to have the “Fabius-Gayssot” law (Jewish Genocide) repealed – because it is a violation of “freedom of speech” and “freedom of expression”.
You can’t have it both ways. It’s either or. I’m willing to bet, once they see this, they will pass the Armenian Genocide law on their own within a month, without a single input from any Armenian.
trust me on this one. Any attempt in repealing the Gayssot Law will be denied by the Constitutional Court on the basis that the statute of limitations has passed to repeal it.
You are so right Kevork! I could not have said it any better.
It high time that Sarkozy must urgently pass the genocide bill. If Sarkozy is looking for the french armenian citizens votes, he must force the genocide bill to pass.
Sooner or later France will adopt this bill. I am very familiar with French Politics. For France the Armenian Genocide is for years one of the matters of its official state policy in its international affairs.If it’s not Sarkozy someone else will do it but the result will be the same. During the 1990s when the great Francois Mitterand was president France adopted a pro armenian policy and it continues until these days. France has a vibrant Armenian community which has many politicians,professors and businessmen among its ranks.Some are open armenians and some are francisized armenians.Until this vote for example I didn’t know that Senator Natacha Bouchard was of armenian origin.She proudly declared that she is the child of an armenian family. Even France’s greatest hero who fought against the nazis is an Armenian called Missak Manouchian.After Russia France is the best friend of Armenia and the armenians.
Sarkozy knew very well that the bill, when adopted, will not pass the constitutional hurdle. Sarkozy knew very well the assembly to be littererd with pro-turks. He played the charade and deliberately held off from signing the law immediately, before it had provoked the reaction of the pro turk elements ( 60 signatories is a lot) to send it to the court. Now Sarkozy regales us with the new Sarkozy II draft. Mr. Hollander has never been known to promote Armenian justice. No matter what happens, we know that the bill having passed the senate will be sent to the constitutional court. And the memebers of that board ( Giscard was one of those members; the octogenarian is a philoturk and a driving voice to have Turkey inside the EU). We are being driven around here by wheeler-dealers . Hope is tha last to die. We keep hoping that one day one of these wheeler dealer threats become a reality. Tragically enormous amounts of money are being spent into these forlorn campaigns.