Icelandic MPs propose Genocide recognition initiative

April 16, 2012 - 22:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Icelandic parliamentarians submitted a proposal urging the country’s government for official recognition of the Armenian Genocide. According to Iceland’s media, the initiative was proposed by Margrйt Tryggvadуttir, a member of The Movement party.

The initiative was supported by two members of The Movement - Юуr Saari and Birgitta Jуnsdуttir as well as Lilja Mуsesdуttir and Guрmundur Steingrнmsson, chairs of Solidarity and Bright Future parties.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill adopted by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide was anti-constitutional.

In a statement the Council said the bill adopted by parliament on January 23 represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice of freedom of expression and communication.”

Turkey reacted furiously when the Senate approved the law. Ankara halted political and military cooperation with France and was threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if the law took effect.

Immediately after French Constitutional Council ruling, President Nicolas Sarkozy instructed the government to submit a new draft law punishing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.