ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT DESTROYED IN FRANCE

Reuters, UK
Oct 14 2006

PARIS (Reuters) – A bronze monument near Paris commemorating the
1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks has been destroyed just
two days after France’s parliament passed a bill that would make it
a crime to deny the genocide.

A local member of the Armenian church in Chaville, a town near Paris,
said the heavy bronze sculpture was wrenched off its pedestal late
Friday night or early Saturday morning.

"Police say it might have been stolen for the metal, but it seems
too much of a coincidence that this should have happened just after
parliament voted the Armenia bill," said Stephane Topalian, a member
of the Armenian church council.

Ankara denies accusations that some 1.5 million Armenians perished in
a systematic genocide during World War One, saying large numbers of
both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in a partisan conflict
raging at that time.

Turkey has protested against Thursday’s lower house vote, which
establishes a one year prison term and 45,000 euro ($57,000) fine
for anyone denying the massacres.

The bill still needs to be approved by the upper house Senate to
become law.