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French parliament to vote on criminalizing Genocide denial

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201643The French Parliament will vote on a bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial Thursday, December 3, Nouvelles d’Arménie reports.

Introduced by MP Valerie Boyer, the bill envisages punishment for denial of the Genocide and any crimes against humanity committed in the 20th century.

The bill was discussed by the parliament’s Justice Commission on November 25.

A bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide was adopted by the French Parliament (December 22, 2011) and Senate (January 23, 2012); it was, however, declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional council of the country on February 29, 2012.

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TZ: French Parliament to vote on controversial genocide bill
The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, majority of U.S. states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium and Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Chamber of Commons of Canada, Polish Sejm, Vatican, European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.

French MP Proposes Sanctions Against Turkey Over ‘Siding With Extremists’

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1023993984European lawmaker Marie-Christine Arnautu, Vice President for Social Affairs of the National Front spoke to Sputnik in an exclusive interview regarding the downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force.

“Turkey has created a big problem by attacking the Russian aircraft, which was returning from a mission of combating the terrorists. Turkey has revealed its cards” Arnautu said in an interview.

She further said, “I just raised the question on my website and suggested not only strict sanctions against Turkey but also to stop to all negotiations regarding Turkey’s accession into the EU. It is quite clear that Turkey is sending weapons and money to the Islamists and leaves open its border, which is like a sieve for jihadists. In addition, after this unfortunate incident, which we have just seen I think that Turkey is indeed at war with those who are waging a war against terrorism.”

“This will be a good test for us… we are talking about war, we are at war… We have a pronounced enemy. Now the main question remains which country and what government is really willing to fight together in the first place against this enemy,” the lawmaker told Sputnik.

She added that fast action needs to be taken and according to her the position of French President Francois Hollande is still very blurred and uncertain.

“I think that the meeting between Putin and Hollande will be crucial. After this meeting Hollande will have to make the final choice. Will he give into the pressure of the financial groups; ultimately it all comes to a question of money and oil? Or will he dare to save France and Russia by helping the coalition that really wants to destroy Islamic fundamentalism and then will develop a real alliance with Russia and Syria,” Arnautu told Sputnik.

French jets drop 20 bombs in massive anti-ISIS raid in Syria

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5648fd10c3618859268b4597France has carried out a massive airstrike on an Islamic State stronghold in Raqqa, Syria. It struck dozen’s of targets including a command and control center, training camp and munitions warehouse, the country’s defense ministry announced.

Twelve French aircraft, including 10 fighter jets, took part in the country’s biggest air raid in Syria, the statement from the defense ministry read.

The strike, coordinated with the United States, was carried out simultaneously from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

“The first target destroyed was used by Daesh (a derogatory Arabic acronym for IS) as a command post, jihadist recruitment center and arms and munitions depot. The second held a terrorist training camp,” a ministry statement said, adding that in total some 20 bombs were dropped in the raid.

Following the wave of terror in Paris, US intelligence services have expanded their data sharing with France and have begun providing “targeting packages” on Islamic State position, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Sunday.

The allies have agreed on “concrete steps the US and French militaries should take to further intensify our close cooperation in prosecuting a sustained campaign” against IS, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement, following a phone call between US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and the French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian.

BREAKING: French train attack hero Spencer Stone STABBED ‘four times in the chest’ and in critical condition

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French train attack hero Spencer Stone (center) was stabbed in Sacramento last night

French train attack hero Spencer Stone (center) was stabbed in Sacramento last night

By CHRIS SPARGO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

French train attack hero Spencer Stone was stabbed in Sacramento early Thursday
CBS reports that he is in stable condition after being ‘repeatedly stabbed’
He was stabbed four times in the chest
Initially police did not believe that Stone would be able to survive his injuries and began treating it as a homicide
Stone was one of the three Americans who managed to take down a gunman as he opened fire on a Paris train this past August
French train attack hero Spencer Stone was stabbed in Sacramento early Thursday.
Stone was one of the three Americans who managed to take down a gunman as he opened fire on a Paris train this past August.
CBS Sacramento reports that he is in critical condition after being ‘repeatedly stabbed.’

The Air Force Times reports that he was stabbed ‘four times in the chest’ and was taken to a local hospital where he is being treated for injury.
The stabbing happened at 12:45am at the intersection of 21st and K in the city and the crime was so violent that two blocks of the street were shut down reports KCRA.
Initially police did not believe that Stone would be able to survive his injuries and began treating the case like a homicide.
A defense official told ABC that he was trying to protect a friend at the time.
The 25-year-old U.S. airman 1st class was stabbed with a box cutter when he along with Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler took down Morocco-born Ayooub El-Khazaani after he opened fire in August.
He had to undergo surgery to attack part of his hand after the incident.

Four French lawmakers meet Assad in Syria: MP

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PARIS – Agence France-Presse

President Bashar al-Assad

President Bashar al-Assad

Four French lawmakers who say they are on a private visit to Syria, despite a breakdown in diplomatic ties between Paris and Damascus, met with President Bashar al-Assad Wednesday, one of them told AFP.

“We met Bashar al-Assad for a good hour. It went very well,” Jacques Myard, an MP who belongs to the conservative opposition UMP party, said in a telephone interview. He refused to reveal the content of the talks.

The group of lawmakers include MPs and senators from both the left and the right.

“It’s a personal mission to see what is going on, to hear, listen,” Myard said earlier.

The French foreign ministry has said the visit has nothing to do with the government.

“The lawmakers do not carry any official message,” said spokesman Alexandre Giorgini.

Islamist Turkish dailies “justified” the deadly attack on a French satirical newspaper.Charlie Hebdo attack

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n_76625_1AFP Photo

Two Islamist newspapers in Turkey have drawn ire on social media with their headlines that “justified” the deadly attack on a French satirical newspaper. Report hurriyet
Hours after gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest), Yeni Akit newspaper chose the title, “Attack on the magazine that provoked Muslims.”

Several reader comments also appeared on Yeni Akit’s Facebook page, which hailed the bloodshed as “revenge” for the magazine’s decision to publish cartoons that criticized the Prophet Mohammad.

“I hope they will continue [to kill] infidels,” said one reader on the website, while another reader wrote “Thanks to those who did it.”

The newspaper then changed the headline of the story to “the great provocation in Paris.”

Türkiye, another newspaper close to the Turkish government, chose the headline: “Attack on the magazine that insulted our Prophet.”

After a flood of reactions on Twitter, including ones that accuse it of “justifying a terror attack,” the newspaper changed the headline to “Attack on the magazine that published ugly cartoons of our Prophet.”

Peygamber Efendimiz’in çirkin karikatürünü yayınlayan dergiye saldırı: ölü sayısı 12’ye çıktı! http://t.co/Uw26XAcM7B

“The timing of the attack is interesting. Is it the cost of recognizing Palestine as a state?” the same newspaper asked in the title of another story.

France’s lower house, senators in the upper house of the French parliament, approved a resolution calling on Paris to recognize a Palestinian state last month.

French-Armenians launch active campaign ahead of Genocide centennial 1915-2015

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french-armenianAhead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a civic group of French-Armenians has launched a website as part of the pan-national efforts towards raising awareness of the tragic event and demanding recognition and reparation.

Speaking to Tert.am, Hrachya Aslanyan, Head of the Diaspora Ministry’s Department of Armenian Communities of Europe, said the campaign, “#2015RTAG. Recognize The Armenian Genocide”, has been initiated by Armenians of Marseilles under the leadership of the community activists Ani Stepanov and Richard Findikyan.

“My connection with this initiative is limited only to the extent that I am from Marseilles, and I was asked to offer my assistance to make the movement more popular. I informed the minister of the initiative, and the very first day, she was photographed with the poster [bearing the slogan] ‘#2015RTAG. Recognize The Armenian Genocide’ and later spread it. First Lady Rita Sargsyan and Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan followed suit; they were later joined by Fetin Çetin, an ethnic Armenian lawyer in the Hrant Dink [case], and well-known public figures,” he said.

Aslanyan added that the Ministry later called for active efforts towards involving all the Diaspora communities, individuals, officials and foreign legislators in the movement.

The group later embarked on creating the seven-language website which has already attracted over 6,000 fans on Facebook since its launch last week.

“If we achieve something great, we’ll clearly decide on, and coordinate with different communities, the next steps. We are now planning on a footage featuring scenes of Genocide, each episode of which will be introduced by well-known Armenians from across the globe,” he said, expressing further his hope that the initiative will really gain popularity.

Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan says she really feels happy that the initiators were Marseilles-Armenians and local city authorities. “We, naturally, work with our communities every day, and our first approach was that we have to be a direct participant. As different public figures visit the Ministry, we offer them to join the movement,” she said.

Hakobyan described the move as a major moral impetus in terms of raising the youth’s awareness of history. “I think recognition is a for politicians of those countries which are still lingering and haven’t recognized the Genocide to date,” she added.
The minister said she believes that the initiative will have a great impact on the world community, whose active involvement in the campaign will be a great stimulus in moving ahead with the Genocide recognition efforts. “Our slogan is, I Remember and Demand. And remembering, we demand the reinstatement of the lost rights, the community and pan-national rights.”

The minister further hailed the Greek parliament’s September 9 bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide. “I think any step is a success,” she said, adding that she doesn’t any surprise move by Turkey ahead of April 24. “I don’t think Turkey will recognize the Genocide on or ahead of the centennial day, but Turkey too, faces an identity crisis, with the society beginning to recognize its history. And that’s a fact. That’s an outcome of the movement. The fact that hundreds and thousands of people in Turkey have started identifying themselves is already a big achievement.”