PATRICK DEVEDJIAN: GENOCIDE IS NOT ONLY A HISTORIC FACT BUT ALSO A LEGAL NOTION

AZG Armenian Daily
23/05/2006

French-Armenian politician Patrick Devedjian, deputy of the Union for
Popular Movement and adviser of interior minister Nicola Sarkozy,
dubbed “comedy” the May 18 session of the French parliament that
discussed a draft law on criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial.

Below we present his interview with Le Figaro:

– Mr. Devedjian, are the results of the parliamentary discussions
surprising to you?

– I did not think they would dare to go that far. The aim of the
comedy that we witnessed was to prolong the discussions not to put
the draft for discussion. This game was organized by the socialists’
spearhead and part of the rightists acting apparently on demand.

This is a disaster for the parliament where seems to be a ban on
discussing concerns facing the French.

– The government also pressed arguments to justify its opposition.

– The foreign minister was the government’s representative. He
explained that Turkey should not be distressed by adopting this
bill. I am astonished over his arguments on trade relations, which is
not only immoral but also wrong. Should I say that around 1.5 million
people fell victim to the Armenian Genocide?

Besides, the market economy is no subject to Ankara’s orders. Turkey
threatened with sanctions. But the next year our export to Turkey
rose by 32 percent.

– What will you tell historians opposing the draft?

– History is not the historian’s manor. Genocide is not only
a historic truth but also a legal notion that is defined in
the French Penal Code. The parliament is entitled to deal with
legal issues. Nevertheless, I stand for free historic debates. The
issue that we discuss today is the shameful Turkish denialism in
France. The legislative power’s interference is necessary to avoid
clashed between communities.