Rüstem İbrahimbeyov, who was awarded the French art award L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2000, also announced that he had resigned from his post as head of the Azerbaijani-French Cultural Association, in a written statement released following the approval of the genocide denial bill by the French Senate.
Speaking to the Cihan news agency, İbrahimbeyov said: “The approval of the genocide denial bill is against the traditions of France’s democracy and also against human rights. Hundreds of people sacrificed their lives while fighting for democracy and liberties in France’s history, but through this act, France has tarnished its own democratic traditions.”
İbrahimbeyov also pointed out there were many different interpretations of the 1915 events that occurred during World War I and that scholars have yet to reach a definitive consensus of what happened, and questioned how the issue could be subject to a juridical process.
İbrahimbeyov told Cihan that the Armenian diaspora is also attempting to convince Russia adopt a similar genocide denial bill and that the Azerbaijani diaspora will do whatever necessary to prevent such a bill from being approved in Russia.
