ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE ALSO CONDEMNS FRENCH DRAFT BILL
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
12/10/2006

According to a press release received yesterday, Mesrop II Moutafian,
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, also condemned the French draft
bill that envisages punishment for a denial of the Armenian Genocide,
the CNN-Turk website and Turkish newspapers reported.

The message says that the Patriarch stated that one should be led
by the initiatives directed to unfolding dialogues and to mutual
understanding. He said that they couldn’t accept any initiative
that doesn’t attain this goal. Moutafian added that whatever are
their grounds, all the initiatives that limit the freedom of speech
will make harm to the dialogue between the Armenian and the Turkish
societies. As a result, both sides, will contribute to strengthening
of nationalistic forces, he said.