France makes it illegal to deny Armenian Genocide

The French Senate today has passed a bill that makes it illegal to deny the Armenian Genocide. The bill passed by 127 votes against 86, despite major Turkish opposition. Due to Turkish opposition the bill was modified not to mention the Armenian genocide, but to outlaw the denial of any genocide. However, this did not stop Turks from backing away with their opposition and they have threatened to cut ties with France and remove their diplomatic presence in Paris.

The bill renders denial punishable with a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($58,000).

The bill now goes to President Nicolas Sarkozy to be ratified. Turkey says the bill is a bid by Sarkozy to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians in France in the two-round presidential vote on April 22 and May 6.

“This day will be written in gold not only in the history of friendship between the Armenian and French peoples, but also in the annals of the history of the protection of human rights,” said Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Nalbandian, reported Reuters.

Back in 2001 France passed a law recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Armenians in Paris waiting for French Senate to pass vote.

ABC posts Nagorno Karabakh as a top place to travel and then removes it!

Last week ABC News posted an article entitled “7 Great Offbeat Places to Go in 2012” on their website, which featured Nagorno, Karabakh as one of the 7 places to visit. However, within a few days Nagorno, Karabakh was removed. This has caused a great outrage with many Armenians.

The article has now been retitled to “6 Great Offbeat Places to Go in 2012.”

The article stated: “Stay at the recently-built Armenia Hotel in the capital, Stepanakert, and use the city as your base to explore the region. Go hiking through snow-topped mountains and fields of yellow and red flowers. Feast on shish kebob and grilled vegetables. If you’re staying with a local, don’t be surprised if you’re offered homemade mulberry vodka with breakfast. Don’t miss the Gandzasar Monastery, meaning ‘hilltop treasure,’ built in the 10th century. Visit it at night to see it lit up in the darkness,”

The article also mentioned that due to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over this zone, if you go there through Armenia, then your passport will not be stamped with a VISA on the actual Passport and instead the stamp will be on an insert, which can be removed, so there is no record of you visiting there. Our guess is that ABC decided to not recommend this place as a place to visit due to this conflict and potential dangers or perhpahs some of the Turkish forces have pressured ABC to remove it.

One visitor, posted the following, which may explain why the article was removed: “I checked UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, 884 as comments suggested. According to UN and US state department Mountainous Karabakh is the part of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, it is a war zone and there is no insurance company which would cover expenses in case of injury or death.Moreover, it seems that there are no hospitals or any other kind of medical care. But there is a drug/human trafficking in area. Should not ABC check this kind of information before it start to adverte any place as a tourist attraction? It would be nice to see an explanation from ABC how Karabakh appeared on this site as a torist attraction.”

Another visitor urges: “dear all ! to get assured that there is no war in Karabakh please visit the official tourist portal of the republic of Mountainous Karabakh: karabakh.travel

Azeri Foreign Ministry has urged the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington to investigate the matter, according to Azeri foreign ministry spokesperson Elman Abdullayev.

We urge all to post your comments below the article at the ABC Site.