ABHaber, Belgium
EU-Turkey News Network
Oct 14 2006

Andrew Duff:" "France has done huge damage to freedom of speech

FRENCH PARLIAMENT DENIES FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON ARMENIAN ‘GENOCIDE’ –
DUFF

Reacting to this morning’s decision of the French National Assembly
on Armenian ‘genocide’, Andrew Duff MEP, Vice-President of the
European Parliament’s delegation to Turkey and Liberal Democrat
Constitutional Affairs Spokesperson, said:

"This is a sad day for liberalism in France. The Assemblée Nationale
has rejected the fundamental right of freedom of speech. It has acted
in direct contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights on
which basis the European Union is founded. For friends of France,
this is a poignant moment.

"Who would have thought that it would be French deputies who would be
the first in the 21st Century to reject the spirit of the
Enlightenment. Voltaire must be spinning in his grave.

"France has done huge damage to EU-Turkey relations and, in passing,
to Turkish relations with Armenia. Progressive forces in Turkey have
been given a gratuitous blow. How can the EU expect Turkey to develop
its laws and practice on freedom of speech when France, one of its
founding members, is going in the opposite direction?

"Europe’s friends in Turkey should not despair. The French Sénat
should throw out this Bill. But the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights
should get ready to review the measure should it, unfortunately,
pass."

ABHaber 13.10.2006 Brussels