AZG Armenian Daily #106, 10/06/2005

Armenian Genocide

BILL ENVISAGING PUNISHMENT FOR DENYING GENOCIDE DECLINED IN BELGIUM

The Secular Community Jewish Center of Belgium applied to the senators
demanding to vote for the bill that envisages punishment for denying the
Armenian Genocide on May 20. It was emphasized in the appeal that the
Armenian Genocide was recognized in Belgium in 1998, but till now there are
some forces in the country that try to deny it.

Azg informed about this in its May 21 issue. The Turkish Zaman newspaper
informed about declining the abovementioned bill in Belgium in its June 8
issue, emphasizing that it’s a temporal phenomenon, at the same time. The
paper said that the bill was discussed during the June 7 sitting and was
declined with 3 votes for and 12 votes against it. The declined bill will be
returned to the Belgian parliament after being discussed at a regular
sitting of the Senate.

The elections of local administration bodies of Belgium will be held in the
October of 2006. The Turkish Zaman emphasized with concern that the
abovementioned bill will again be included in the agenda of the Senate.
Loran Leylekian, chairman of European Armenians’ Federation, said in
response to the question of Zaman that though the fact of declining the bill
upset them, they managed to unfold discussion on the issue of denying
genocide.

By Hakob Chakrian