Remarking on the French Senate’s bill to criminalize the Armenian Genocide denial last, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, said that “France is opening the road for Turkey to correct its historical record.” 

“The vote of 23 January 2012 reminds us of the event during the Armenian Genocide when the French Navy evacuated some of our people and brought them to Lebanon to avoid the fate of their brothers and sisters. The vote is a continuation of France’s historical commitment to human rights,” reads the statement posted on the Holy See of Cilicia’s facebook page.

According to Aram I, “Through this historical vote, France is assisting Turkey to join those courageous countries that have set a process for reconciliation: Germany’s admission of the Holocaust, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Rwanda’s Gacaca Process, Serbia’s admission of the Srebrenica Genocide, Canada’s admission of the Genocide of the Aboriginal people.”

In conclusion, His Holiness Aram I said, “This is an opportunity for Turkey to give up its negationist language, to cease calling countries committed to human rights ‘irresponsible’ and to begin a new courageous journey of correcting its historical records and engaging in a reparation process.”