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ANKARA: France Waits For ECHR On Genocide Bill

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  • ANKARA: France Waits For ECHR On Genocide Bill

    FRANCE WAITS FOR ECHR ON GENOCIDE BILL

    Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
    May 13 2014

    Arzu Cakır Morin YEREVAN

    France will wait for a final decision from the European Court of Human
    Rights (ECHR) before reintroducing a bill criminalizing the denial of
    the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as genocide, President Francois
    Hollande said May 12.

    In 2012, France's Constitutional Council struck down a
    government-backed law criminalizing denials of the 1915 events as
    genocide on the grounds that it contradicted the French Constitution.

    And late last year, the ECHR ruled that denial of the 1915 mass
    killings of Armenians as genocide falls within the limits of freedom
    of expression, following an appeal from a Turkish politician against
    his conviction in Switzerland. The decision was referred to the ECHR's
    Grand Chamber by the Swiss Justice Ministry for the final ruling.

    Speaking to a group of reporters during a visit to Yerevan, Hollande
    said they would wait for the final decision of the ECHR and that the
    law should be compatible with the Constitutional Council.

    Workers' Party (İP) Chairman Dogu Perincek, who had described the
    Armenian genocide as an "international lie," had complained that Swiss
    courts had breached his freedom of expression, based on Article 10
    covering freedom of expression.

    The ECHR ruling stated that "the free exercise of the right to openly
    discuss questions of a sensitive and controversial nature is one of
    the fundamental aspects of freedom of expression and distinguishes
    a tolerant and pluralistic democratic society from a totalitarian or
    dictatorial regime."

    Elaborating on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent statement
    in which he offered condolences to the families of more than 1 million
    Armenians who were massacred during World War I, Hollande said the
    gesture was an advance but not enough, calling on Turkey to recognize
    the killings as genocide and suggested that the recognition would
    "unite, not divide."

    May/13/2014

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/france-waits-for-echr-on-genocide-bill.aspx?pageID=238&nid=66426

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