Azernews.Az

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned France's intention to approve a law introducing criminal penalties for denying the so-called Armenian Genocide, official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey reported on Monday.

The report emphasises that the bill, which deals with sensitive events in Turkey, is contrary to the principles of freedom of speech.

"The adoption of such a law at a time when relations between Turkey and France are developing dynamically could be a fatal mistake resulting in a negative impact on bilateral relations. France should be objective and not distort historical facts," the report says.

MPs from the French President's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party which has the parliamentary majority, proposes a bill which aims to criminalise denial of the so-called Armenian genocide to the legislative committee of the National Assembly on Thursday.

A similar bill was considered and adopted by the French National Assembly on October 12, 2006, but in May 4, 2011, was rejected by the legislative committee of the Senate, which considered it unacceptable.

A new bill signed by 40 deputies from the UMP party and the New Centre party provides up to one year's imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros for those who deny the so-called Armenian genocide.

The Armenians and their lobby claim that the former ruler of Turkey, during the Ottoman Empire had carried out genocide against Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915 and achieved recognition of these events as being genocide by the parliaments of several countries.