Azernews.Az

An Azerbaijani official has condemned the passage of a bill criminalizing denial of the alleged genocide of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in the French parliament’s lower chamber on Thursday, saying the decision may impact Azerbaijan’s relations with France.

"This is a decision passed in one of the French parliament’s chambers for now," Novruz Mammadov, the Presidential Administration’s head of foreign relations, continued. "We have to wait a little. Otherwise, [if the bill passes in the upper chamber], adequate steps could undoubtedly be taken [by Baku]."

Mammadov labeled the National Assembly’s decision as unfair.

"This, in fact, affects France’s image as a democratic state, as a society, and implies extreme restrictions on freedom of expression," he said.

The National Assembly in Paris voted by a show of hands to back the bill by a large majority, and it will go before the Senate next year.

Under the bill, those publicly denying "genocide" would face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($58,000).

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed by the Ottoman Turks in 1915-16. Turkey rejects the term "genocide". Ankara says closer to 300,000 people died, and that Turks were also killed as Armenians rose up against the Ottoman Empire when Russian troops invaded eastern Anatolia, now eastern Turkey.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry believes that France must also review the Khojaly massacre committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis during the Karabakh war in 1992, its spokesman, Elman Abdullayev, has said, commenting on the French parliament chamber’s adoption of the "genocide" bill.

"If France has such an approach of principle on certain issues, now, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group [which is brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh], it has to consider the Khojaly massacre as well."