French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on Thursday warned Turkey against "overreacting" to the adoption by France's lower house of parliament of a bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered a "genocide" at the hands of Ottoman Turks, dpa reported.
"What I wish is that our Turkish friends do not overreact to this decision by the French National Assembly," Juppe told reporters in Bordeaux.
He was speaking after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was recalling the Turkish ambassador, as part of a package of diplomatic, military and economic reprisals.
Juppe deplored Turkey's reaction and called for "common sense and restraint," insisting France and Turkey had "a lot of things to do together."
On Thursday, the French parliament adopted a bill criminalizing denial of the so-called "Armenian Genocide".
Some 45 out of 577 French MPs participated in the voting, 38 of which voted for, while 7 voted against the adoption of the bill.
The bill envisages about one year imprisonment and a fine worth 45,000 euros for denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide".