OSMAN ELMACI DEPRIVED OF SEAT IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.10.2007 15:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Christian-Democrat party in the Netherlands,
the CDA (Christian Democrat Appel), has announced that Mr. Osman Elmaci
has been turned down from having a seat in the European Parliament due
to his attitude toward and his remarks denying the Armenian Genocide.

The European Armenian Federation reported that Mr. Elmaci, who had
already been ousted from the last legislative elections for the same
reasons, was the number three person behind the current MEP Joop Post,
who has resigned. He was to become a Member of the European Parliament
after the withdrawal of Mr. Bartho Pronk’s candidacy. CDA leaders,
already having a past record of principled stance against genocide
denial, vetoed this possibility. Mr. Post will finally be replaced
by Mr. Cornelis Visseur.

"We congratulate the CDA party for this courageous and visionary
political decision. Denial – under the pretext of ‘freedom of
expression’ – can only serve to perpetuate the racial hatred from
which it derives," declared Laurent Leylekian, Executive Director of
the European Armenian Federation.