This is what Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia Varand Mgrdichian said regarding the French Senate’s adoption of the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide during an interview with the Australian ABC Radio. On January 25, Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia Varand Mgrdichian gave an interview to the Australian ABC Radio on the French Senate's adoption of the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide. During the interview, Raquel Blul asked Mgrdichian about genocide recognition as progress in politics and Hagar Cohen's statement "The Australian-Armenian community welcomes that progress". In response, Varand Mgrdichian said: "We attach importance to that movement because Turkey has been denying the Armenian Genocide for 96 years. For a community the ancestors of which were subjected to genocide, which in turn has been continuously denied by Turkey, genocide recognition is a huge step in terms of reconciliation. This is an issue that concerns all mankind. The first step in preventing genocides around the world is recognition of the past." Hagar Cohen has said Varand Mgrdichian has called on the Australian government to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. In response to this, Mgrdichian said: “We first and foremost appeal for the Australian Parliament's official recognition of what happened to the Armenians. The Parliament of Australia still hasn't recognized that historical fact. Unfortunately, Australia is lagging in this issue and still isn't a pioneer in human rights."

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