AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT STILL BELIEVES FRENCH GOVERNMENT WILL NOT LEGALIZE DOCUMENT ON SO-CALLED ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’
Author: P. Kesamanski

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 30 2006

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, stated in his interview
with the foreign media accredited in Russia that Azerbaijan’s
official position on the adoption of the legislation penalizing
for denial of the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’ was commented in an
official statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this
respect. Azerbaijan is very much concerned on the initiatives on the
consideration of the issue and voting.

The President noted that Azerbaijan is satisfied with the statement
by French officials urging that the government will never support
this law. The position has been recently sounded in a meeting of the
Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and France in Paris, as well as the
French embassy in Baku.

"We are cooperating with the MPs, and the government of France on
this matter. We are satisfied with the standpoints by this country’s
officials. We believe that France will never allow the legalization of
such anti-democratic document, based on unfair shuffling of historic
facts, because ideas sounded at the French parliament violate the
democracy and its major principles. It would be very difficult for MPs,
who voted for this legislation, to speak about democracy and teach
democracy representatives of different countries," the Azerbaijani
Present assured.

"We negatively estimate the legislation and state that it does not
meet the truth. The so-called ‘Armenian genocide’ is an illusion of
the Armenian lobby. To justify their belligerent policy in respect
to Azerbaijan they introduce themselves as victims and consider they
are right in taking similar steps in respect to Azerbaijanis. The
Armenian committed genocide in Khojaly, where the Armenian armed forces
killed over 600 people, including children, women and elderly ones,"
Mr Aliyev said.

The Azerbaijani President also backed Turkey’s imitative in the
commencement of the talks with Armenian on the issue and publication
of the archive material.