Protest outside French embassy in Baku
The International Centre for Diaspora and the Azerbaijani society of war veterans on Thursday held a rally in front of the French embassy in Baku as a sign of protest against the discussion of the bill criminalising the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" in the French Senate.
The 100-strong groups chanted 'France be fair', 'Down with Sarkozy', 'Long live Turkey'. They adopted a statement condemning the actions of the French Senate and presented it to a representative of the embassy.
Members of the French president's party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) which has the parliamentary majority, presented a bill to the legislative committee of the National Assembly earlier this month.
The bill which was signed by 40 members of the UMP party and the New Centre party, provides up to one year's imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros for those who deny the so-called 'Armenian genocide'.
The Armenians and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessors of the Turkey - Ottoman Empire had carried out 'genocide' against Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915 and achieved recognition of these events as genocide in the parliaments of several countries.
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