Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 7 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
There was not "Armenian genocide" historically. This is a fact which may be proved by investigation, Turkish minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis said in Zurich, Switzerland, CNN Turk TV channel reported.
"I said in Zurich that there was no "Armenian genocide"," he said. "I choose my words carefully now."
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has recently protested the initiative of the Swiss Prosecutor's Office to prosecute the Minister for the fact that while returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said in Zurich that there was no Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
This happened after the French Senate approved a bill on criminal liability for the denial of the "Armenian genocide". There is a similar law in Switzerland. The minister added he has not received any notification from the Swiss court on this issue yet.
"I expressed my opinion on the issue," he said. "The criminal liability in this case is contrary to the law on freedom of speech."
Previously on January 23, after an eight-hour debate, the French senate adopted the bill. Some 127 senators voted in favour, while 86 voted against.
The bill demands a year's imprisonment and a fine of €45,000 for denying the so-called "Armenian genocide."
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 have achieved recognition of the "Armenian Genocide" by the parliaments of several countries.