French Senate’s passing the bill penalizing Armenian Genocide denial is a truly historic event, said the director of the Institute of Political and Social Studies of the Black Sea and Caspian region.
“With the passage of the bill, no one will be able to call the Genocide issue a “solely Armenian viewpoint”,” Vladimir Zakharov said, expressing hope for other countries to follow France’s suit.
In conclusion, the expert urged Turkey to declassify the archives to enable a fair study.
Political analyst Andrey Areshev, in turn, noted Ankara’s threats as useless. “Turkish-French relations will eventually stabilize. If willing to play by European rules, Turkey will have to change its policy,” the expert stressed.
“Turkey lost much of its influence in West compared to 1990s: in present circumstances, the emotional approach to the issue is unconstructive, necessitating a balanced policy line,” he noted.
On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. To be signed into law within 14 days, the bill will impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.
Turkish authorities threatened France with breaking of ties in case of passing the bill. Moreover the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he will never step foot in France if the Senate passes the draft law.
