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Sarkozy calls for new legislation on 'Armenian genocide denial'

Recent legislation relating to the deaths of thousands of Armenians in WWI was struck down yesterday by France’s Constitutional Court.

FRENCH PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy has called on his cabinet to draft new legislation to punish those who deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman troops during the First World War is genocide.

The killings remain hugely contentious in Turkey today, and the government continues to deny that the deaths and forced displacement of around 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 was an act of genocide.

France’s stance on the WWI killings has seriously strained relations between it and Turkey.

A previous bill on the issue had been passed by France’s upper and lower houses but was struck down yesterday by the French Constitutional Court which ruled the legislation unconstitutional. The court ruled that the law violated freedom of speech and expression – which are protected in the French constitution.

The president of the Council of Coordination of Armenian Organisations in France Frank Mourad Papazian accused the court of acting on political grounds when making its ruling.

Meanwhile, Turkey welcomed the court’s decision. Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a statement that it was “pleasing that a grave mistake has been corrected by France’s highest legal body”.

In a statement posted on his official site, President Sarkozy said the court ruling brought immense disappointment and deep sadness to those who had backed the law. He instructed the government to prepare a new bill on the issue, while taking the court judgment into account.

Sarkozy said that the legislation was designed to protect against a denial which was an insult to the victims and their descendants.

- Additional reporting by the AP

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7 Comments
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    Mute L Connors
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    Aug 27th 2014, 9:42 AM

    $10bn for something that generates no revenue? The world has gone mad.

    229
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    Mute Paddy Mac
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    Aug 27th 2014, 11:15 AM

    I’d say if they got a euro every time a flute or a pair of titties has been sent via their app then they’d be worth alot more than 10 billion!

    119
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    Mute Dunners
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    Aug 27th 2014, 9:47 AM

    Snapchat , The new ‘try before you buy’

    44
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    Mute John Judd
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    Aug 27th 2014, 10:53 AM

    The world has gone mad !

    21
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    Mute Brendan Power
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    Aug 27th 2014, 1:58 PM

    There was a program on channel4 awhile ago, the lad that created bebo sold it for something like $800million and bought it back 3 years later for $1million!

    17
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    Mute jason booth
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    Aug 27th 2014, 1:07 PM

    I’d sell it now before something else comes along and snapchat will be long forgotten about!

    13
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    Mute Dylan Kearns
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    Aug 27th 2014, 11:30 AM

    When ppl send you goatses, who’s taking the picture?

    12
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    Mute Aus Tereo
    Favourite Aus Tereo
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    Aug 27th 2014, 10:57 AM

    Who uses Snapchat and what do you use it for?

    11
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    Mute Mick Roach
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    Aug 27th 2014, 11:10 AM

    Mostly kids and seriously vain and self-obsessed adults.

    34
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    Mute Aus Tereo
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    Aug 27th 2014, 11:17 AM

    I just don’t see the attraction. You can send pics with WhatsApp and Viber, how has this become so successful? I get that the pic deletes itself on Snapchat but is there much of a need for that? The dick pic market can’t be that big? I used to be with it. Note I don’t even know what IT is anymore.

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    Mute Roman Pinčiuk
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    Aug 27th 2014, 11:19 AM

    Usually used to display their genitals and selfies while sitting on the jax to their friends.

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    Mute Vox Pop
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    Aug 27th 2014, 12:58 PM

    First off it saves on space because images or videos aren’t saved locally to your device. Second it uses less data than other apps such as Whatsapp and Viber which both fully download their media – Snapchat compresses its media reducing data requirements. You have to look at Snapchat as a much more casual form of communication – nothing is stored.

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    Mute Vox Pop
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    Aug 27th 2014, 1:01 PM

    Also you’d be surprised at the lack of penis selfies on it. It isn’t Chatroulette – you know who is sending you snaps at all times unless you have your settings set otherwise.

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    Mute Aus Tereo
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    Aug 27th 2014, 2:23 PM

    Thank you Vox Pop for your explanation.

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    Mute Scorpionvenomm
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    Aug 27th 2014, 3:33 PM

    ha all those stupid women sending naked pics don’t realise that this stays on a server forever eh lol.
    People need to to educate themselves a bit better when it comes to technology :-)

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    Mute Peter Lavelle
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    Aug 27th 2014, 1:14 PM

    Didn’t bebo have a crazy evaluation at one stage……….

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    Mute The Hooded Biscuit
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    Aug 28th 2014, 12:26 AM

    Omegle must be worth $1000billion

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