CE Commissioner for Human Rights disapproves Armenian genocide denial bill.

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg disapproves of the French Parliament’s genocide denial bill.

During his visit to Istanbul, he said such initiatives “hinder the freedom of expression”, Today’s Zaman reports.

“The very description of the enforced mass displacement and the ensuing deaths, as well as the outright killings of ethnic Armenians in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire, continue to be extremely controversial,” says Hammarberg’s “Human Rights in Europe” report presented in Istanbul.

However, the report also mentions “there has been an unwillingness to discuss these crimes in Turkey. Writers and journalists who have tried to raise the issue have been brought to trial.”