French senators ask Constitutional Council to block pro-Armenian bill
Baku, January 31 (AZERTAC). A group of French senators have asked the country`s Constitutional Council to block a new law that criminalizes the denial of Armenia`s claims of so-called genocide.
In a move that sparked a furious reaction in Turkey, the Senate last week approved the measure which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915 killings amounted to genocide.
The left-wing group of senators said they had gathered 72 signatures from senators opposed to the law, more than the minimum 60 required to ask the council to examine the law`s constitutionality.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced the law as "tantamount to discrimination and racism".
France has already officially recognized the killings as a genocide, but the new law would go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).
Turkish President Abdullah Gul welcomed French senators` move.
He said: “believe the French Constitutional Council will deliver the correct decision. I previously said that we closely follow the developments. I expressed my hope before that enough signatures are collected to revoke the bill at the French Constitutional Council and this shadow over the French democracy is removed. Something amazing happened; no one could foresee such a global reaction against this bill. Freedom is a country`s most important strength. We hope this process progresses properly.”
Turkey`s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu praised those French senators and deputies “who championed their rights by taking that step in the face of the Armenian bill” and said “what needed to be done now was to await the decision by the Constitutional Council.”
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