COE's head: French bill on Armenian allegations wears out European values

STRASBOURG (A.A) - January 23, 2012 - Council of Europe (COE) Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said that the French bill on Armenian allegations was wearing out European values and limiting the freedom of expression. Jagland and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc met in Strasbourg on Monday before they inaugurated Anadolu Agency's photo exhibition on Somalia. Jagland said that they felt very sorry about this issue, adding that COE should launch initiatives to prevent wearing out of the European values. We should leave the history to historians, said Jagland, adding that politicians should not discuss history. French Senate will vote today a bill which penalizes denial of the Armenian allegations on 1915 incidents with a prison term of one year and a fine of 45,000 euro.