Deputy Foreign Minister: "Discussion of the "genocide" bill is absurd"

"The discussion of the bill is absurd and the presentation of the issue is illogical," Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said at a news conference, according to Interfax.

"The adoption of the bill contradicts basic human rights and freedoms because people have a right to freedom of thought and freedom of obtaining information, and the bill may violate and limit the freedom of thought.

Novruz Mammadov, a foreign affairs adviser for Azerbaijan's presidential administration, said France's decision "damages France itself, the cradle of democracy."

Mammadov said the French parliament "has fallen under the influence of Armenian circles." International Herald Trinune; RFE/RL