Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has offered his congratulations to the French Constitutional court following its decision to strike down a bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered "genocide" during World War I, dpa reported.
"By opting to protect the concept of universal human rights the French Constitutional Court has decided in accordance with what everyone believes to be European morals. We congratulate the court for its decision," Turkey's state news agency Anatolian quoted Davutoglu as saying Tuesday.
Separately, Anatolian quoted Turkish deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc as stating that the French Constitutional Court had given the country's politicians "a lesson in lawmaking."
The Constitutional Court of France repealed a law criminalizing denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" on Tuesday, which was adopted by the country's Senate.
The Council justified it by the fact that the law contradicts Article 33 of the Constitution of France and freedom of speech.
Following this decision, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the government to prepare a new bill criminalizing denial of so-called "Armenian genocide".
On Jan 23, after an eight-hour debate, the Senate adopted the bill criminalizing denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide". Some 127 senators voted in favor, while 86 voted against.
The bill demands a year's imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euro for denying the so-called 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 achieved recognition of the "Armenian Genocide" by the parliaments of several countries.