Senator Nathalie Goulet has vowed to wage a crusade against the adoption by the French Senate of a law that would criminalize genocide denial.
The bill, which is expected to be debated in the Senate later this month, would make it a crime to deny any genocide recognized by France, including denial that the 1915 killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were genocide.
Senator Nathalie Goulet told French website Turquie-News that she would start "a crusade against the proposal by Madame Boyer".
She said that she would raise awareness of the issues amongst all political groups in order to "reframe the debate and bring it back to the legal arena, away from the counterproductive electioneering into which it has fallen".
In a press release published by Turquie-News on 5 January, Nathalie Goulet called on Turkish organizations to trust the Senate and not to resort to the lobbying practised by their opponents.
"Any attempt at pressure or piracy would harm the cause that we are defending together. In a democracy, debate is expressed through argument."
She added: "I understand the anger of the Turkish people and of our compatriots of Turkish origin living in France, but the Senate debate should be exemplary. Let's leave pressure and electoral blackmail to others. Many senators do not know the subject and have not yet decided how to vote. Let's allow them to take their position and let's trust the Senate."
She recalled in conclusion that the Senate had voted down a similar text in May.
Nathalie Goulet is an outspoken opponent of the criminalization of genocide denial and of "memory laws".
Speaking at the end of December, she criticized Patrick Devedjian, president of the General Council of Hauts-de-Seine, for describing Turkey as a threat.
"It's simply disgraceful and not worthy of a former minister of the Republic to express himself in this way about a country with which we have diplomatic relations and which is a major player in international diplomacy," Goulet said.
"Armenia is not a threat!? Really? The country is poor, a victim of its policy towards Russia. Yes. But it has been illegally occupying Azerbaijani territory for 20 years and is to blame for massacres, notably at Khojaly," she continued.
"Armenia was a victim in 1915, but it has since joined the camp of the executioners. Armenia should liberate the occupied territories of Karabakh and free itself from the Soviet yoke. The victims of 1915 do not justify this aggression!"
She said that if the denial of genocide were criminalized, the victims of Armenian aggression could seek reparations through the French courts.
"Everything is not black and white in the Caucasus, but if Mme Boyer's text is, unfortunately, voted through the Senate and passes through the filter of the Constitutional Council, I am not worried, as I know that the victims of Armenian aggression in Karabakh and in the Azerbaijani territories illegally occupied by Armenia will come and find recognition and reparation in the French courts."
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