ANTELIAS, Lebanon - Commenting on the adoption of the bill by the French Senate last night, which declares that 'denial of the Armenian genocide is a crime,' His Holiness Aram I 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". 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 the end 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 as 'irresponsible’ and to begin a new courageous journey of correcting its historical records and engaging in a reparation process."

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