“Turkey’s response to the adoption of the bill had long been decided. These measures will stay in place as long as the law stays in force,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters yesterday.
French senators passed the bill following a marathon session, with 127 legislators voting in favor of the bill and 86 voting against the motion in the legislature’s upper house, which has 348 members.
France’s lower house voted to make such denials a crime last month, prompting Turkey to suspended military, economic and political ties. With the motion’s passage through the Senate, Turkey is now expected to unveil a new raft of measures that will affect educational and cultural ties with France.
The bill will become law once it is approved by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and enters the Official Gazette.
Making a speech on behalf of the government, French Minister of Relations with Parliament Patrick Ollier said the bill complied with French and EU laws. Ollier said two “genocides” were now recognized by France.
“The denial of the Jewish genocide is penalized; [now we are making that] this possible for the Armenian genocide as well,” said Ollier. » | Hürriyet Daily News | ANKARA | Tuesday, January 24, 2012
HÜRRIYET DAILY NEWS: 'Genocide' bill 'null and void for us': Erdoğan » | Hurriyet.com.tr | Tuesday, January 24, 2012
