FRENCH LOWER HOUSE APPROVES ARMENIA GENOCIDE BILL

Xinhua, China
Oct 12 2006

PARIS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) — The French lower house of parliament on
Thursday adopted a bill that would make it a crime to deny that the
World War I massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks was genocide.

According to the legislation that was carried by 106 votes to 19,
anyone denying the genocide would be sentenced to one year in prison
and ordered to pay a 45,000-euro (56,570 U.S. dollars) fine.

To become law, the bill still needs the approval of both the upper
house Senate and the French president.

But Turkey has warned that the bill would damage ties between the two
countries, and threatened economic revenge against France if the bill
become law.

"If this draft law is approved, Turkey will lose nothing but France
will … lose Turkey," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in
televised comments late on Wednesday.

Ankara denied it was to blame for the genocide of around 1.5 million
Armenians during the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in World
War I, arguing that it was part of general fighting in which both
sides suffered.

Although the French government considered that it was up to historians
not parliament to judge the past, the ruling Union for a Popular
Movement (UMP) gave its lawmakers a free hand in the vote, which
ensured the passing of the bill.

Later in the day, the European Commission criticized the bill, saying
it could harm reconciliation efforts.