French MP says visit to Genocide Museum impressive

April 24, 2013 - 18:29 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - French MP, France-Armenia parliamentary friendship group member Valérie Boyer visited the Genocide Museum-Institute, where she left a note in the memory book.

“The museum is impressive. We are for the criminalization of the Genocide denial in France and in all of Europe,” the French MP wrote in the book.

As a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter was told in the museum, Ms. Boyer further laid flowers at the Genocide memorial complex.

It’s noteworthy that the French MP arrived in Armenia to participate in the April 24 commemoration ceremony for the Genocide victims. Yesterday, on April 23, she expressed regret that the Genocide bill was turned down twice; however, she promised to find another way to promote the adoption of the bill, with the support of MEPs.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.