Hollande to visit Armenia on April 24

PARIS

President Francois Hollande. ABACA photo

French President François Hollande is planning to visit Armenia on April 24, the date Armenians commemorate the alleged Armenian genocide in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, daily Hürriyet has reported, citing sources in the Elysee.

Hollande accepted the invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in November 2012 to visit Armenia in 2013, the report said, adding that Hollande aims to issue a “strong genocide message” to the Armenian community living in France before local elections in 2014.

However, the French president will not bring forth the bill that criminalizes denial of Armenian genocide allegations to the Senate due to “technical difficulties” in the Constitution. The French Constitutional Council annulled the bill last year.