According Feyyaz Kerimo, writer and teacher living in Sweden, the 1915 genocide had irreparable effects on the Assyrian identity that now seems weakened and divided. The war in Iraq and Syria has caused new waves of immigration and the idea of returning to Turkey seems far for the new generations in the Diaspora.
Armenian Genocide through art: Impact of performance on recognition
Any piece of art or performance by a Diaspora-Armenian artist can raise awareness of the Armenian Genocide and the Armenian Cause, but given the 
targets and audiences, they are not absolutely likely to replace state functions, says Violet Grigoryan, an Armenian writer and publicist.
“A piece by an independent artist – be it a painting, performance or whatever – is of more help to the audience and people who might be politically less aware of the Armenian Genocide, interstate relations and the Armenian history. It works better, raising more people’s awareness. But its effect is for the given moment only, with no guarantees or responsibilities for future,” she told Tert.am, commenting on US-Armenian rock musician Serj Tankian’s initiative to co-author the symphonic composition 100 Years ahead of the Armenian Genocide centennial.
The musician had earlier unveiled a plan for presenting the project on September 20 in Pasadena. Lark Musical Society has been chosen to premier the new composition.
Actress Lala Mnatsaknyan is of the opinion that it is very important to focus more coordinated efforts on the art or performance aspect while seeking an international recognition and condemnation of Genocide. Speaking to Tert.am, the actress said she expects more concrete results from Diaspora-Armenian artists but expressed regret that the events were not arranged much earlier.
“It is impossible to organize a concert in May and invite a couple of people here to sing, recite poetry and then leave. This should have been already done, but I do not see anything as yet. Perhaps they are planning to arrange it later. But why do it late? Didn’t we know about 2015 five years ago? This should have been done long ago so that we would be in that process now,” she said.
The actress proposed producing films and staging performances, noting in the meantime that they do not absolutely have to feature crying scenes or other sad episodes.
“It is important to organize globally interesting events, and not only on artists’ level. The more we have people speaking about Genocide, the better the international community will be aware of it. We, the individuals, do what were are supposed to, but we need a higher level of state assistance and a higher level of reaction. It is necessary to speak about this, because we are losing the moment,” Mnatsakanyan added.
source: tert.am
Turkey should reconcile with its own past – Edward Nalbandian
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s article was published in the French Le Figaro with slight abridgements
Below is the full version
In international relations there are, unfortunately, cases of missed opportunities. The statement of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, followed by the comments of other Turkish senior officials on the eve and after the commemoration of the 99th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide are such cases. The fabricated notions of “common pain”, “just memory” and the appeal to the Turks and Armenians to “follow Erdogan’s lead” are misleading. Ahmet Davutoglu declares “that the main goal of Erdogan’s statement is prevention of worldwide efforts of the Genocide recognition”. Instead of concrete steps towards reconciliation one can find calls to complicity. I mean complicity against the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
It is hard to find a nation nostalgic towards its centuries-old suppression in its ancestral homeland. Any oppressed nation cannot share the nostalgia towards the Ottoman Empire. Like other empires, the Ottoman Empire was built upon and forcefully sustained through suppression of the basic rights and freedoms of many of its citizens.
Mr Davutoglu’s differentiation of the Western and Turkish perception of sufferings by Christians and Muslims is astonishing. The Armenian Genocide is not only part of Armenian or western memory and history, but also of the memory of the Muslim world. One of the earliest references to the Armenian Genocide belongs to Muslim witness Fayez El Ghossein, who in 1916 published his work entitled “The Massacres in Armenia.” Sharif and Emir of Mecca Husayn ibn Ali was one of the prominent Islamic leaders, who acted against the program of physical annihilation of the Armenians and called on his subjects to defend Armenians as they would defend themselves and their children. In 1919-1921 the large-scale extermination of Armenians were referred such Turkish public figures as Refi Cevat, Ahmet Refik Altinay. Many Muslim historians refer to the massacres of Armenians as genocide, while Arab historian Moussa Prince used the term “Armenocide”, considering it as “the most genocidal genocide.”
For the sake of “just memory” artificial political actions and calls are not needed, while those, who dare express their opinion freely are killed like Hrant Dink, or exiled like Orhan Pamuk, or taken to custody, like Ragıp Zarakolu.
Davutoglu is playing the same old tune of founding a commission of historians “in order to find the truth”. One of the most competent international institutions on genocide studies, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, in answer to the same proposal, made an appeal to the Turkish government to accept what had been proven long ago. Instead of repeating decade-old re-worded or rephrased appeals we need genuine and concrete steps. Ratification of the Zurich Protocols, normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, opening of the borders could pave the way to the difficult path of reconciliation between our peoples. The sub-commission on historical dimension, as envisaged by those Protocols, could implement a dialogue with the aim to restore mutual confidence between the two nations. It would be impossible to do by putting under question the reality of the Armenian Genocide.
Led by an apparent desire to deny the fact of the genocide, as defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Erdogan’s message yet again underlined that what happened in 1915 “was regardless of religion or ethnic origin.” It seems that the 1919 Turkish Military Tribunal’s Indictment, which proved by undeniable facts that the deportations and large-scale massacres of the Armenians were a state policy, and sentenced its main masterminds to death, has been forgotten in Ankara. It seems that Rafael Lemkin’s development of the concept of “genocide” has gone unnoticed in Ankara. I have to remind that 99 years ago on May 24, 1915 Russia, France and the Great Britain issued a special declaration by which they warned the perpetrators of the atrocities against the Armenian people of their personal responsibility for “these new crimes of Turkey against humanity and civilization.” It is beyond any doubt that the Armenian Genocide was organized with genocidal intent. Meanwhile an attempt is made by the Turkish officials to equate the losses of the war and the systematic annihilation of Armenians, as a result of which millions of my predecessors lost their lives, homes, lands, properties. There was an attempt to strip millions of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire of their right to life, as well as their past – more than 2000 cultural and religious monuments were destroyed and the survivors were driven off the lands they had inhabited for many centuries, before Turks came to this region. In 1915 one of the chief masterminds of the Armenian Genocide, then Interior Minister Mehmed Talaat Pasha confessed to Germany’s Consul General that “there is no Armenian question, because there are no more Armenians.” He was wrong, but the nature, magnitude and the consequences of that horrible crime are far beyond the definition of “suffering.”
In one of the interviews Erdogan rhetorically asked “if such a Genocide occurred would there have been any Armenians living in this country?” Today a large number of Jews live in Germany, but no one would dare put under question the reality of the Holocaust. Or, how can one speak of “relocation”, when 1.5 million of people died or were killed? Planned marching people to the dessert, starving them to death, killing most of them en route is not a relocation, it is a “death march,” it is a genocide.
The denial of the genocide, the atmosphere of impunity paved the way for the repetition of new crimes against humanity. Genocide denial is considered by scholars as the last phase of the crime of genocide. Even though there are still few who continue to deny, but this does not mean that there is a “dispute” about it. On the one hand, there is the fact of genocide that nobody doubts in the world, the pain of which every single Armenian family anywhere in the world bears until now, and on the other hand, there is an official and imposed denial of the genocide by the Turkish government. Turkey is in dispute with itself.
Is it possible to make the descendents of genocide survivors, spread all over the world, a part of the complicity of genocide denial? Is it possible to equate perpetrators and victims of genocide by such clichés as “common pain”? It is appalling to imagine that the perpetrators of Holocaust, of genocides in Cambodia, in Rwanda, and other crimes against humanity, can be equated with the victims. Is it even possible to consider genocide survivors’ descendants as “Turkish diaspora”, which some Turkish politicians are trying to do today?
As Rwanda Genocide survivor Esther Mujawayo recently mentioned at the UN Human Rights Council High Level Panel Discussion in Geneva dedicated to the Genocide Prevention Convention, “Today is the fourth generation of Armenians who are still waiting”. Not only Armenians, the whole international community for almost 100 years has been waiting for Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The genuineness of the desire for reconciliation must be proven through recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish government must not refrain from genuine reconciliation. Thousands of Turkish citizens have opted for that path already.
Davutoglu mentions Armenian composer Komitas as an example of Armenians’ creative activities in the Ottoman Empire. ”Just memory” should have shed some light on the life of Komitas, who was a witness of the Genocide. He had seen all the sufferings, the horror that befell the Armenians and said that “nobody knows all the wounds of our tragedy… this distress will drive us mad!” And from 1916 onwards, for 20 years he spent his life in a psychiatric hospital.
On April 24, 2003 when we were unveiling the Komitas statue in Paris, I expressed hope that this memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims could symbolize the sufferings and memory of the victims of all genocides perpetrated in the 20th century, that it would become a mourning site for all those who consider tolerance and respect to human life and dignity as a continuous process, that there would bow not only the descendents of those who suffered physically and spiritually, but also the descendents of those who caused those sufferings. I believe that the route to reconciliation is not a path of denial, but that of conscious memory, because true reconciliation does not mean forgetting the past or feeding younger generations with the tales of denial. Turkey should reconcile with its own past to be able to build its future.
The President of Armenia has invited the Turkish President to visit Armenia on April 24, 2015, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. We hope it will not be a missed opportunity and Turkey’s President will be in Yerevan on that day.
Edward Nalbandian
Foreign Minister of Armenia
French MP supports bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial
YEREVAN. – French MP Bruno Le Roux said he is committed to the values of France president on adoption of a law criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial.
Le Roux, head of Socialist group of the French National Assembly, said they are attaching importance to the events dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
The French lawmaker said there is no necessity in launching new bill, but it is time to adopt the existing one.
“We need to stop all the initiatives on this issue. There is no political issue, and we all share the view that prosecution is needed in case of denial of the Armenian Genocide, this opinion is shared by the President of France. The question remained in the legal field: it is necessary to initiate a bill that will not interfere with the right of freedom of speech,” he told reporters in Yerevan.
The delegation of French parliament headed by Le Roux is on a visit to Yerevan.
Serj Tankian to Premiere ‘100 Years’ with Lark Musical Society
Singer, songwriter, composer, poet and political activist Serj Tankian has chosen Lark Musical Society to premiere his new symphonic composition “100 Years” that he co-wrote with New Zealand composer John Psathas.
Tankian is best known as the front man for the heavy metal band System of a Down, whose music achieved worldwide recognition. Alongside his career as a singer/songwriter, Tankian has established himself as a composer, poet, multi-instrumentalist, and political activist.
The event will take place at the prestigious Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena on Sept. 20. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.Itsmyseat.com or calling (818) 500-9997.
Tankian and Psathas wrote “100 Years” for the centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. Lark Musical Society is proud to have this honor and will use it to mark 
the beginning of 100 events sponsored by Lark, in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
The program, titled “Perennial Pilgrims,” will also feature choruses from Wagner, Verdi, Tchouhadjian, Tigranian as well as two acts from Serj Tankian’s Orca Symphony.
As the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide approaches, we reflect on the Armenian character defined in the post-Genocide century. Forced into a worldwide Diaspora, Armenians have carried their story wherever they have settled. It is in language, in faith, in music, in food, that identity has taken root, community has formed, and memory preserved. Like pilgrims we wander the earth, the motherland fixed in our hearts, with ever an eye towards that future return.
During the coming year 100 events will mark Lark’s centennial commemoration, beginning with this two-part concert. First, we draw from the world of Opera. Taking selections of Verdi, Purcell, Wagner, Tchouhadjian, and Tigranian, The Lark Mastersingers under the direction of Maestro Vatsche Barsoumian, will present a multicultural expression of that universal nostalgia for home.
The second half follows with selections from Symphony No. 1 “Orca” by Serj Tankian, a melodic meditation on the wandering and lonely whale.
The evening will culminate with the fitting commemorative piece “100 Years,” the world premiere of the orchestral composition by Tankian and John Psathas. Lark Musical Society is deeply proud to partner with this active and passionate member of the Armenian community and internationally celebrated musician.
Lark Musical Society is a non-profit organization based in Glendale, California, dedicated toward the preservation and enrichment of classical and Armenian music through performance, education and research.
France Denialist propaganda of the Turkish state in France
National Bureau of CCAF
A booklet entitled “the events of 1915 and the Turkish-Armenian controversy over the story,” conducted by the denialist pharmacy AVIM (Center for Eurasian Studies, based in Ankara), been a few months since a shipment in many local communities, authorities, institutions and the different French universities. This booklet claiming to work for the “reconciliation between Turks and Armenians” around a “just memory” actually develops a series of specious arguments to deny the genocidal character of the events of 1915, to exonerate government leaders “Young Turkish “of the time and put on the same footing” Turkish and Armenian suffering “during World War II.
This propaganda, as massive in its form and in its sly background shows that the Turkish authorities that subsidize AVIM, do not intend simply to spread the denial of the Armenian genocide within their borders. They also make an export product that comes now thrive in France, land of welcome for survivors.
These despicable methods, using all the tricks of manipulation to launder the Turkish state, are part of the business logic of extermination. They aim to complete the crime by challenging up to reality.
A few months before the centenary celebrations in 1915, this challenge is also an attack on the memory of the dead and a final assault on the survivors. She just cruelly remind the shortcomings of the law face a State denial whose area of nuisance crosses boundaries, and whose symbolic violence is the extent of resources devoted to its propagation.
The CFC urges the authorities to take all measures to combat this communication operation assassins of memory in the territory and to implement a bill that would fight with the weapons of law against this new form of crime.
National Bureau of CCAF
Thursday, September 4, 2014,
Ara © armenews.com
Ara © armenews.com
Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide 29-Ayse Gunaysu
By: Hambersom Aghbashian
Ayse Gunaysu is a Turkish Human rights advocate, feminist and a professional translator. She has been a member of the Committee Against Racism and Discrimination of the 
Human Rights Association of Turkey (Istanbul branch) since 1995, and is a columnist for Ozgur Gundem( Free Agenda). Since 2008, she writes a column titled “Letters from Istanbul,” for the Armenian Weekly. Her research Interests are Space and Place, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Kurdish Question in Turkey, Turkish Nationalism, Middle East Studies, and Modern Turkey.She is also involved in Genocide issues, specially the Armenian Genocide and its consequences and continuation till current days. Through her articles, researches, interviews and active participation in Genocide commemoration events and conferences, she is working very hard with many other intellectuals to change the official Turkish view and position, demand and get the Armenian Genocide recognized by the Turkish government.(1)(2).
On March 23, 2009, at the Genocide Conference “Legacy of the 1915 Genocide in the Ottoman Empire” in Stockholm, Ayse Gunaysu said ” Nearly a century after the genocide of Armenians and Assyrians/Syriacs as well as other Christian peoples of the Asia Minor,Turkey is still being poisoned by the suppression of the truth. Suppressed truth poisons the suppressor, it also poisons those who are deprived of the knowledge of the truth. Not only that, suppressed truth poisons the entire environment in which both the suppressor and those who are subjected to that suppression live. So it poisons everything.(3)
According to ” hyeforum.com, Aprl 30, 2009″, on April 24,2009, the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Organization of Turkey organized an event commemorating the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul. Ayse Gunaysu , one of the organizers quoted Lawyer Eren Keskin saying “Today is the 24th of April, the 94th anniversary of the arrests in Istanbul which started the Armenian Genocide in 1915.” She added, “The official history [in Turkey] denies the genocide, but we know what happened and we believe it’s important to tell people the truth. So, today we will commemorate the most brilliant intellectuals of the Ottoman Armenians: the poets, writers, physicians, lawyers, and members of parliament, who were taken away on the 24th of April,1915 and murdered.”(4)
At the invitation of the Armenian Council of Europe & Surb Khach Tebrevank, Ayse Gunaysu, representative of the League of Human Rights in Turkey, and Ara Sarafian, a historian and President of the Komitas Institute in London , gave a lecture on April 27, 2012 at the Alex Manoogian Cultural Centre (AGBU) in the Rue de Courcelles in Paris. In her lecture , Ayse Gunaysu said “ I want you to know that for me to be here is an honor. I am proud. But I also have a sense of shame. The origin of this shame that I have today is because I come from that State. That State who is the author of this genocide. “she said. Continuing on to say that “ if there was no genocide in 1915, the Armenian population would rise to 17 million today. At that time, one in five was not a Muslim, which the Armenians. Today they represent only a drop in the ocean. That is why today I have this feeling of shame.”(5)
In a review of “Rifat Bali”s book titled “ Devlet in Ornek Yurttaslari –Cumhuriyet Yıllarında Türkiye Yahudileri 1950-2003,” , “ The Model Citizens of the State–Jews of Turkey in the Republican Period 1950-2003.”, Ayse Gunaysu wrote on how Turkey threatened and manipulated Turkish and other Jews. She said ” In his 670-page book, Rifat Bali gives a detailed account of the Turkish government’s efforts to mobilize its Jewish subjects to win the support of the Jewish lobby in the United States against the Armenian campaigners. At the same time, Bali shows, how the Turkish authorities played the Israeli government against U.S. policymakers for the same purpose. The book also offers rich material about how Turkish diplomats and semi-official spokesmen of Turkish policies, while carrying out their lobbying activities, threatened both Israel and the U.S. by indicating that if the Jewish lobby failed to prevent Armenian initiatives abroad—Turkey might not be able to guarantee the security of Turkish Jews. But this is not all. Rifat Bali throughout his book unfolds the entire socio-political setting of the process of making the Jewish community leaders active supporters of Turkish governments’ struggle against the “Armenian claims” in the international arena.(6)
In an interview (January 19, 2014), concerning Hrant Dink’s assassination, (hetq.am/eng/news/32061), Ayse Gunaysu mentioned that their committee knew of him since the first issue of Agos in 1996, and they were in close contact since then. Hrant Dink was the person who was able to change the perception of Armenians in the eyes of a large section of Turkish society , she said . Her Answer to a question “why do you think Hrant Dink was killed? was “I think it’s because genocide is not something that happened and finished between 1915 and 1923. It still continues with an aggressive, crude, and gross denial.”(7)
According to http://artsakhpress.am (April 24, 2014), The American Jewish Committee issued a commemorative address on the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Also a number of French, Turkish and Armenian public figures, intellectuals and artists called Turkey to commemorate the 99th anniversary of Genocide in coming a step closer to justice and democracy, Le Monde daily said. Among those undersigned are: Charles Aznavour, singer; Bernard-Henri Lévy, French public intellectual and author; Bernard Kouchner, ex-foreign minister of France; Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of Poland’s largest newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza; Paul Morin, executive director of the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement(EGAM); Ayse Gunaysu, the president of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association of Turkey; and many others.(8)
On March 11, 2014, The Armenian Mirror- Spectator wrote ” Relics from the Armenian genocide will be unveiled during a conference focusing on the heroes and survivors of the genocide at the Ararat-Eskijian Museum on March 22. Filmmaker Bared Maronian along with British journalist Robert Fisk, Prof. Vahakn Dadrian, Dr. Hayk Demoyan, Ayse Gunaysu, Missak Keleshian, Shant Mardirossian, Dr. Rubina Peroomian and Prof. Vahram Shemmassian will take part in the daylong conference honoring those who aided in the rescue of survivors of the genocide from 1915 through 1930.(9)
In an interview with Egyptian Al-Ahram weekly (April 30, 2014) concerning Erdogan’s “condolences” to Armenians, Ayse Gunaysu, was sure that Erdogan had “changed his communications consultant because this is new language.” Gunaysu said that although Erdogan’s statement was the first of its kind “we in Turkey are so used to the worst that a little bit less worse surprises us and almost give us hope.”(10)
———————————————————————————————————————1-http://www.armenianweekly.com/2014/01/17/turkey-an-action-movie-without-a-good-guy/
2- http://matematik.academia.edu/AyseGunaysu
3-http://www.armeniandiaspora.com/showthread.php?163838-Ayse-Gunaysu-at-the-Genocide-Conference-in-Stockholm
4-http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=21139
5- http://www.armenianlife.com/2012/04/30/ayse-gunaysu-i-am-ashamed/
6- http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_email.cfm/blog_id/37890/Ayse-Gunaysu-On-How-Turkey-Threatened-And-Manipulated-Turkish-And-Other-Jew
7-http://hetq.am/eng/news/32061/ayse-gunaysu%E2%80%9Chrant-was-assassinated-thats-the-reality-of-turkey%E2%80%9D.html/
8- http://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/1053/american-jewish-committee-issues-address-on-99th-anniversary-of-armenian-genocide.html
9- http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2014/03/11/a-childs-tattered-dress-sheds-light-on-armenian-genocide/
10-http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/Print/6081.aspx
It was published in Nor Or ,Sept.4, 2014
Erdogan trying to poke nose into Armenia-Azerbaijan relations
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to conduct his visit to Azerbaijan as the president of Turkey was not absolutely a random choice, says a spokesperson for the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Speaking to Tert.am, David Babayan described the Turkish leader’s trip, as well as his statements made in Baku as a manifestation of pan-Turkist policies.
“This reflects the true situation. It is good in a way that Turkey makes statements of the kind, unmasking its own goals and the basic concepts of its policies. I see nothing bad about this. It was predictable and absolutely no surprise. Statements of the kind have been always made,” he noted.
At a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan said his country’s relations with Armenia will remain frozen as long as the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh doesn’t find a solution.
“Turkey and Azerbaijan act as the closest allies. What’s even more, Azerbaijan is trying to become part of Turkey. This is a reflection of pan-Turkist policies. Turkey has always made statements of the kind, so this isn’t anything new. Turkey won’t recognize the Genocide; it keeps denying the fact; this too, is a continuation of genocidal policies. They are doing everything possible to destabilize the situation,” Babayan said, adding that Erdogan is trying to kind of poke his nose into the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
Commenting on Erdogan’s statement, Vahan Badasyan, a member of the Nagorno-Karabakh National Assembly, said he believes that it is time for Armenia to announce officially that its relations with Turkey will remain frozen as long the country refuses to accept and recognize the Armenian Genocide.
“Hence the Armenian side should make haste to make such a statement, as Turkey may begin mixing up the Genocide with the Karabakh issue. I think our diplomacy is slowing its efforts from that point of view. It is important for us to state that Turkey has nothing to do with Karabakh. If it has to, why doesn’t it then share an equal responsibility with Azerbaijan?” he said.
Describing the Azerbaijani policies against Karabakh as aggression, Badasyan said he sees that the country has lost lands that belonged to during the Soviet years (not historically). “And the Karabakh side stood up for the protection of those lands, justifiably protecting itself from aggression. We do not absolutely care of what Erdogan will do or say; we just have to be ready for everything,” said the lawmaker.
FRANCE Valerie Boyer filed a new bill aimed at punishing the denial of genocide and crimes against humanity of the twentieth century
At a time when we are preparing to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian genocide, there is no law still allows France to punish denial of genocide and crimes against 
humanity, with the exception of the Holocaust. While two genocides are officially recognized by France, the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide of 1915 (recognized by the law of 29 January 2001), only the denial of the Holocaust is that sanctioned by the Gayssot day, thus creating competition briefs. This unjust situation must end, both for the criminalization of the denial of the genocide of 1915 than for the other genocides that wish to recognize France.
I already had in 2011 proposed a law along the lines of EU law on the fight against racism and repression of genocide recognized by French law with which the Armenian genocide. The bill was adopted by all groups in the National Assembly and the Senate on January 23 2012 Unfortunately, it was the subject of censorship of the Constitutional Council, on the grounds that the denial part of freedom of expression, ending the attempted criminalization of Holocaust denial.
Yet the opportunity to punish denial of all genocides and crimes against humanity echoes a burning issue in the context of persecution against Eastern Christians in Iraq in particular, described by Ban Ki-Moon of crimes against humanity.
It is necessary and urgent to legislate to propose a new classification of denial. I’m so used to working to draft an alternative and innovative version, the fruit of reflection that I conducted with leading lawyers criminal lawyers. That is why I propose that denial is no longer considered by the law as a simple abuse of freedom of expression, but as a crime against humanity.
This has two advantages: exit the opposite by the Constitutional Council on freedom of expression and protection of all genocides recognized by our law legal impasse.
This is a legislative enriched that I suggest to co-signed by my colleagues, a nonpartisan law to the public interest that overcomes the partisan considerations. This text is intended to be universal because it protects all genocides recognized by French law and is in compliance with Human Rights. This law will soon be available on the website of the National Assembly and wish consideration intervene soon because this cause is close to my heart but it is especially critical to our commitment and our law.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014,
Stéphane © armenews.com
Anti-racism Bill: Changes in Genocide and Sexual Discrimination Issues
by Nikoleta Kalmouki
On Tuesday morning, Greek Justice Minister Charalambos Athanasiou tabled the anti-racism bill in Parliament and announced the included amendments.
The amendments concern genocide and sexual discrimination issues. According to the bill, apart from Holocaust deniers, there will also be sanctions for the deniers of the genocides against Armenians, Pontians and Christians of Asia Minor, which have been recognised by the Greek Parliament.
Those who urge or incite actions that may lead to discrimination, hatred or violence against a person or group, based on their sexual orientation, will face imprisonment.
Both issues had caused strong reactions between New Democracy party members who had sent a letter to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. SYRIZA MPs expressed their satisfaction with these amendments.
On Monday, Democratic Left (DIMAR) submitted its proposal to include four amendments in the anti-racism bill. These amendments concern civil partnerships, acquisition of Greek nationality, exploitation of seized bank accounts and abolishing the in flagrante procedures for debts towards the state.
The Church of Greece had also expressed its support to the bill, while it had requested that the genocides against the Greek Pontians and the Christians of Minor Asia also be included.
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