Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 24 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
The law criminalizing the denial of the "Armenian Genocide" adopted by the French Senate will move the ties between France and Turkey in a different direction. Turkey will take tough measures against France, Turkish President Abdullah Gul was quoted by the TRT Haber TV channel as saying today.
"Turkey condemns the law, which will regretfully be a severe blow to the relations between the two countries," he said.
The French Senate adopted the bill. Some 127 senators voted in favor, while 86 voted against on Jan.23.
The lower house adopted a bill criminalising the denial of the genocide on Dec.22. Some 45 out of 577 French MPs voted with 38 voting for and seven against the adoption of the bill.
The bill demands a year's imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euro for denying the so-called genocide. In response to this decision, Turkey announced that it has frozen all diplomatic relations with France.
MPs from the French president's Union for Popular Movement (UMP) party proposed the bill aimed at criminalizing the dneial of the so-called genocide to the legislative committee of the National Assembly in early December.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the Turkey - Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against the Armenians living in Anadolu, and achieved recognition of the "Armenian Genocide" by the parliaments of several countries.
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