The bill has no future
Cyprus Observer, Cyprus
Oct 20 2006
20.10.2006
French Ambassador to Ankara, Paul Poudade spoke about the future of
the ‘genocide denial bill’ approved at the French Parliament last
week.
Question: Ambassador Poudade, what do you feel the future is for
the bill approved by the French Parliament on October 12?
Answer: I do not believe that there is any legal future for this
bill. I do not believe it will be passed into law. In order for it to
become law, it must first be accepted, without a single word change,
by the French Senate, and then signed by the French President to be
implemented. This would mean the going back and forth between the
Parliament and Senate many times, and if the bill were not approved
by the time this particular parliament comes to a close, in February
2007, the bill would fall by the wayside. Moreover, barring all of
this, the bill could even go to our Constitutional Court. I think
this was an untimely and unnecessary initiative. This is why
President Chirac’s phone call to Prime Minister Erdogan expressing
the hope that no damage would come to French-Turkish relations as a
result of this bill was very important.
Q: What reaction did the French people themselves have towards this
bill?
A: The French people feel much sympathy and closeness to the
Armenians. But this bill created great displeasure in the general
society, as well as raising many question marks…..As it was, all of
the Paris newspapers, and even more importantly, all the provincial
papers (aside from one printed in Marseilles) expressed the same
opinion.
Previously published in Hurriyet on Tuesday, 18 Obtober 2006.
Chirac sorry for Armenian bill
French President Jacques Chirac told Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan last weekend that he was sorry about the recently adopted
French bill on the alleged ‘Armenian Genocide’. Chirac made the
statement last weekend in a phone conversation with Erdogan.
Press reports in Turkey claimed that the French President, in
addition to saying he was sorry, also apologised for the adopted bill
that was to open a way to punish those who deny the ‘Armenian
Genocide’ in France. Nonetheless, dependent upon very reliable
sources, the Turkish daily Hurriyet clarified on Tuesday that the
President only said that he was sorry and that he would do his best
to stop the bill’s entering into law.
Reactions
Chirac’s move created reaction at the French Parliament. "It is
disappointing that he (Chirac) apologised for parliamentary work,"
Didier Migaud, a deputy from the Socialist Party, was quoted in an
interview. "It is easier to talk about genocide in Yerevan, rather
than in France," Migaud concluded referring to Chirac’s pro-Armenian
statements during his visit to Armenia last month.
Professor Erdogan Tezic, head of Turkey’s Higher Education Board
(YOK), returned an award from France on Monday in protest at the
French bill. Receiving the Legion d’Honneur in September 2004, Tezic
was the first and only Turk to hold it.
The bill still must be voted at the French Senate and signed by the
President before entering into force.
–Boundary_(ID_3C1vm5KmvFNyRntCBKbTrw)–