Azernews.Az

Armenian diaspora groups have started a campaign to achieve passage in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, of a law criminalizing denial of the alleged genocide of Armenians in Turkey.

Signatures began to be collected in support of the measure in Russia's Black Sea town of Sochi, which is densely populated by Armenians, the Baku-based APA news agency reported.

Valeri Torosyan, head of the Union of Sochi Armenians, which initiated the campaign, said the collected signatures will be submitted in the coming days to State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, the ruling United Russia party and opposition lawmakers.

The campaign comes after the National Assembly, the lower chamber of France’s parliament, in December passed a bill which envisions a jail sentence of up to one year and a 45,000 euro fine for those denying that the "genocide" of Armenians occurred in Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

Armenia says 1.5 million of their kin were killed in a genocide. Turkey dismisses the claims, saying around 500,000 died in fighting after Armenians sided with Russian invaders.