democracy. Turkey is ranked 25, ahead of several EU member countries. But there are still considerable deficits concerning the components of liberal values, which are very important for an effective democracy. The deficits, the study argues, suggest that the Turkish state, Turkish civil society, and European decision-makers would be well advised to continue to support civil society and secular democracy in Turkey. Armenian genocide recognition In 2004, the French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier stated that Turkey must recognise the systematic massacres of Armenians in 1915 as a genocide. However, he insisted that although France did not set a precondition for European Union entry regarding the matter, he stated that France would raise the issue during negotiations. The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, stated that it must be a precondition for Turkey to recognise the systematic massacres of Armenians in 1915 as genocide. The government of Turkey rejects such a precondition for EU membership and does not accept it as a part of the EU membership criteria. In 2006, the European Parliament voted against a proposal to formally add the issue as a membership criterion for Turkey. A similar proposal by Greek and Greek Cypriot MEPs was also rejected by the European Parliament in 2011. LGBT rights Although homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, in contravention of European Union directives on human rights; Turkey temporarily banned LGBT pride parades in 2015 and 2016. Reasons given for the ban were “security concerns”, and “religious sensitivities of the public” caused by holding the parade during the month of Ramadan. Article 301 Article 301 states that "a person who publicly insults the Turkish nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and two years" and also that "expressions of thought intended to criticise shall not constitute a crime." The EU was especially critical of this law during the September 2005 trial of novelist Orhan Pamuk over comments that recognised the deaths of thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians. Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and members of the European Parliament called the case "regrettable", "most unfortunate", and "unacceptable". After the case was dropped three months later, Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül indicated that Turkey may abandon or modify Article 301, stating that "there may be need for a new law". In September 2006, the European Parliament