By Adonia Agayan

YEREVAN, December 21 — Turkish President Abdullah Gul called France upon giving up the enactment of a bill criminalizing the denial of any genocide recognized by French law. Abdullah Gul sent a written statement criticizing the decision of the French authorities regarding the Armenian Genocide committed in Ottoman Turkey.
He referred to the bill as unacceptable and expressed hope that France will not sacrifice their centuries-old Turkish-French relations, common interests and bonds of alliance for minute political calculations. “It is not possible for us to accept this bill which denies us the freedom to reject unfair and groundless accusations targeting our country and our nation,” Gul said in his statement.

According to Gul, in case the bill is adopted, it will be impossible to conduct even objective researches. “We expect France to act in a reasonable way and to leave the issue up to the historians,” the statement reads.

The French National Assembly will vote on the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial on December 22. In case a positive verdict is reached, French President will sign it. If the law is passed as expected, anyone in France who publicly denies the genocide could face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 Euros.
France officially recognized Armenian genocide in 2001.

Yerevan Report