Sarkozy promised Senator Kaltenbach to back bill
The bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide has been again included in the agenda of the French Senate thanks to Senator of Armenian descent Philippe Kaltenbach.
At the same time, the senator reminded President Nikolay Sarkozy's pledge to back the bill.
"Denial of the Armenian Genocide is a blow to the values of the French Republic," said Senator Kaltenbach.
If approved by the Senate and signed into law by the president, the bill envisages five years in prison and a fine of up to €45,000 on anyone who will deny the fact of the Armenian Genocide.
The French National Assembly approved the bill on October 12, 2006; however, the Senate has not adopted it to date.
On May 4, 2011, the French Senate rejected the bill that would make it a crime to publicly say the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey did not constitute genocide. The Senate voted 196 to 74 to block a formal debate on the issue.
Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, who is in Great Britain on an official visit, referred to Armenian-Turkish relations, saying, "Complicated issues are not solved by one step. The relations are so frozen that it is impossible to melt them even by blowing. Some additional attempts are needed. There was time when the situation was favorable but we did not manage to reach an agreement. Every country of the region has its interest in this issue. There are difficulties, but we cannot say that the whole process is deadlocked."
