Outsite French National Assembly : May 18, 2006

While waiting for the French National Assembly to vote on the Bill that criminalize the denial of the Armenian Genocide, Armenians rally for the Assembly to vote "YES", after all it is only fair since "denial of the Armenian Genocide," is a "hate crime" as much as the denial of the Holocaust, which already was recognized by the French National Assembly as a crime !

Here are some pictures of the demonstrations taken by the Associated Press Agency.

Armenians, some of them carrying French flags, wait ouside the National Assembly, in Paris, Thursday, May 18, 2006, as French lawmakers debate a proposal that would make it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians during World War I constituted genocide. Later, the National Assembly put off indefinitely the debate on a proposal by the opposition Socialists that would recognize the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1919 as genocide.

(AP Photo/Michel Euler/May 18 5:56 AM)

An Armenian carries a poster reading: 'Criminal Turkey, Armenian Genocide 1894-1909-1915-1923 (numbers stands for the years of consequent massacres by Turkish state against the Armenians of Ottoman Empire)'

Ouside the National Assembly, in Paris, Thursday, May 18, 2006, as French lawmakers debate a proposal that would make it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians during World War I constituted genocide. Later, the National Assembly put off indefinitely the debate on a proposal by the opposition Socialists that would recognize the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1919 as genocide.

AP Photo/Michel Euler/May 18 5:56 AM)

Armenian demonstrators carrying stickers reading:

'stop revisionism, everyone united and mobilized for truth', wait ouside the National Assembly, in Paris, Thursday, May 18, 2006. French lawmakers debated a proposal that would make it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians during World War I constituted genocide. Later, the National Assembly put off indefinitely the debate on a proposal by the opposition Socialists that would recognize the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1919 as genocide.

(AP Photo/Michel Euler/May 18 5:55 AM)

Some Turks were rallying too outside the French National Assembly, of course opposing the Bill.

Protestors carry French flags and a sign reading: 'Armenians, Turks of France, together for reconciliation', Place des Invalides, in Paris, Thursday, May 18, 2006, as French lawmakers debate a proposal that would make it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians during World War I constituted genocide. Later, the National Assembly put off indefinitely the debate on a proposal by the opposition Socialists that would recognize the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1919 as genocide.

(AP Photo/Michel Euler)