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Speaker of Azerbaijani parliament: It will not do credit to France to politicize the historical events that happened long ago and make them the theme of discussion at the parliament

06 February 2012 16:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Parvin Abbasov â€“ APA. Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ogtay Asadov received the delegation led by head of France-Azerbaijan Working Group, Senator Nathalie Goulet. Spokesman for the parliament Akif Tevekkuloglu told APA that senators Sylvie Goy-Chavent, Jean Marie Bockel, Herve Maurey, Andre Reichard, Jeanny Lorgeoux also attended the meeting.

Ogtay Asadov spoke about the relations between Azerbaijan and France. He said the Azerbaijani government, the head of state Ilham Aliyev attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with France. Speaker of the parliament said the Azerbaijanis are concerned over the bill on the co-called â€œArmenian genocideâ€ passed in France, which is considered the cradle of democracy.
â€œTaking into account that France is a co-chair of the Minsk Group dealing with the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the concern of the Azerbaijanis is understandable. We believe that the final step for the enactment of the bill will not be taken due to the actions of the progressive persons like you, the French Constitutional Council will prevent enactment of the bill aiming to restrict human rights and freedoms,â€ he said.

Ogtay Asadov said historians must deal with history. He said it will not do credit to France to politicize the historical events that happened long ago and make them the theme of discussion at the parliament. He mentioned the Khojaly genocide, which happened recently, displacement of one million Azerbaijanis and said the attempts to close eyes to such cases, discuss a made-up issue, exaggerate it are not understandable.
â€œWe call on the French politicians to be delicate regarding this issue,â€ he said.

The guests expressed their satisfaction with the meetings held in Azerbaijan. They highly appreciated the visit and expressed their confidence in the development of Azerbaijan-France relations.

The French senators also met with the members of the parliamentâ€™s committee on international and interparliamentary relations. Chairman of the committee Samad Seyidov also attended the meeting. The guests were informed about Azerbaijanâ€™s concern over the bill passed by the French senate. The guests expressed their regret over the passage of the bill and said historians must deal with history.

The members of the delegation had voted against the bill criminalizing the denial of the genocides recognized by the law at the French National Assembly and Senate.