PARIS–An Armenian delegation headed by April 24 Committee chairman Alexi Govsyan and Armenian National Committee of France chairman Ara Krikorian along with Juil Mardirossian and Michel Gevijian met with secretary of the Speaker of the French Senate Alain Mellar and diplomatic advisor Nikola de la Granville on March 1.
The delegation presented a petition with the necessary 20,000 signatures calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The resolution was passed by the lower house on May 29–1998 and waits to be passed as law by the Senate.
The delegation also relayed the concerns of numerous French politicians that the resolution has not yet been addressed by the Senate.
Mellar met again with the delegation on March 9 to report that the Senate did not include the Genocide issue in the meeting agenda but decided to postpone discussion until March 23. He discussed some of the difficulties in connection to addressing the resolution.
The delegation noted that the Armenian community does not understand how such an issue is delayed especially when the majority of representatives are ready to vote for the resolution.
