Turkish FM: Sarkozy wages war against Constitutional CouncilFebruary 29, 2012 - 20:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish Foreign Minister commented on French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s instruction to draw up a new text of the bill penalizing the Armenian Genocide denial. “President of France Nicolas Sarkozy initially waged a war against history and freedom of speech, now he wages it against the Constitutional Council,” TRT Haber quoted Ahmet Davutoglu as saying. The French Constitutional Council ruled the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial adopted earlier by the Senate of France as unconstitutional. The Council justified it by the fact that the law “contradicts Article 33 of the Constitution of France and the freedom of speech”. On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. If signed into law by the President, the bill would impose 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. 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. Top stories The CSTO budget for the current year requires adjustments due to the refusal of Yerevan to pay their share of contributions. Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. Partner news | Armenian wrestlers win 3 medals at U20 European Championships The Armenian team has won 3 medals at the U20 European Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships. Ameriabank, COAF pool efforts to develop beekeeping in Lori COAF and Ameriabank have presented their joint program Harvesting Nature’s Bounty. Putin to meet Erdogan, Aliyev on SCO sidelines Putin will hold meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Armenian, Georgian Foreign Ministers meet in Tbilisi The meeting of Ararat Mirzoyan and Ilia Darchiashvili, is underway in Tbilisi, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reveals. |