French Leftists to reject ‘genocide’ bill

PARIS / ANKARA

French Parliament approve the bill which will be voted in French Senate Jan 23.

Radical leftist senators in France announced plans Jan. 13 to vote against a resolution criminalizing denials of the 1915 events as genocide when the bill goes before their chamber Jan. 23.

Following in the footsteps of the Green group in the French Senate, the European Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE), which has 16 senators, officially announced that they would oppose the resolution. A RDSE statement said the group respected the memories of nations who had suffered but added that the resolution would not help normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia, Anatolia news agency reported. The statement also said parliaments should not pass laws regarding historical incidents. The Green Group also said they would vote against the resolution. There are also senators from the Socialists and the ruling party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), who object to the resolution. Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek urged the head of the French Senate for a “timely intervention” to prevent the adoption of a bill outlawing the denial of Armenian “genocide,” warning bilateral ties are on the brink of deep crisis. “I do not want to believe a great institution such as the Senate would ignore the universal values held by France and support attempts to limit freedom of expression,” Çiçek said in a letter to Senate President Jean-Pierre Bel. He stressed a rejection of the bill could provide an opportunity to revive reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Armenia.