(Hurriyyet) - In a special interview with the Hurriyet, French Ambassador to Ankara, Paul Poudade, spoke about the French Parliament's decision to approve the "genocide denial" bill last week.
Ambassador Poudade was careful to underline in his comments that he felt the bill "had no future" politically in France, reports Trend. His answers to some questions are as follows:
(Hurriyet): Ambassador Poudade, what do you feel the future is for the bill approved by the French Parliament on October 12?
Ambassador Poudade: I do not believe that there is any legal future for this bill. I do not believe it will be turned into law. In order for it to become law, it must first be accepted, without a single word change, by the French Senate, and then signed by the French President to be put into implementation. This would mean the going back and forth between the parliament and senate many times, and if the bill were not approved by the time this particular parliament comes to a close, in February 2007, the bill would
fall by the wayside. Moreover, barring all of this, the bill could even go to our Constitutional Court. I think this was an untimely and unnecessary initiative. This is why President Chirac's phone call to Prime Minister Erdogan expressing the hope that no damage would come to French-Turkish relations as a result of this bill was very important.
(Hurriyet): What reaction did the French people themselves have towards this bill?
Ambassador Poudade: The French people feel much sympathy and closeness to the Armenians. But this bill created great displeasure in the general society, as well as raising many question marks.....As it was, all of the Paris newspapers, and even more importantly, all the provincial papers (aside from one printed in Marseilles) expressed the same opinion.