Epress.am News from Armenia
Speaking to journalists in Yerevan today, Marseilles Deputy Mayor and Armenia-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice-Chair Didier Parakian, when he met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan yesterday, said, “I said that he initiated a very brave step, beginning the process of Armenia-Turkey Protocols.”
Though France adopted a law in 2001 which recognized the Armenian Genocide of 1915, Parakian believes it’s not enough. In 2006, France adopted the first reading of a bill stating that denial of the Armenian Genocide would be considered a crime punishable by law. The bill has not passed the first reading, and thus, Parakian has organized a petition (available online) in order to gather support for the bill being approved into law. The petition has already gathered 1,2000 signatures and more than 10 French National Assembly deputies have expressed willingness to join the cause.
“Regretfully when this bill first entered the Senate, there it remained. Today in France we have 500,000 Armenians, of which 100,000 live in Marseilles. We are doing everything possible for this bill to be approved by the Senate,” he said.
He also said that he is favor of improving relations between Armenia and Turkey.
“I had invited about 30 Turkish intellectuals to Marseilles, who came and apologized to the community for the Genocide. And after Football Diplomacy, I had begun ‘business diplomacy’ with the aim of Marseilles’ Armenian and Turkish business owners to cooperate with each other,” he said.
However, according to the Marseilles deputy mayor, considering Turkey’s position, it’s unlikely that that initiative will be implemented: “Once again Turkey disappointed us, and the whole world, in general, became disappointed with Turkey’s policy.”