President Abdullah Gul yesterday slammed the French Senate for adopting the bill that criminalizes the denial of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915.

Speaking to reporters before receiving ambassadors of certain states at the Cankaya Presidential Palace yesterday, Gul said that he condemned regretfully French Senate’s adoption of a bill which criminalizes the denial of Armenian allegations about 1915 incidents during Ottoman period.

“Obviously, France, namely, such an important country of Europe, has become one of the countries limiting freedom of expression and independent academic studies as of yesterday. Making such a move for electoral gain does not suit a grand country like France. No doubt, the measures the government will decide on will be strictly implemented. Turkish-French relations would be carried to different dimensions,” said Gul.

ERDOGAN: “FRENCH BILL IS COMPLETELY NULL AND VOID FOR TURKEY”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that the French bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915 was entirely null and void for Turkey and echoed the footsteps of fascism in Europe.

Speaking at the parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan yesterday reiterated that the bill could still get rejected, if 60 lawmakers take it to a superior court and succeed in getting an approval from that court, acknowledging that the bill is in violation of the French constitution.

Erdogan described the bill as a discrimination, racism and slaughter of freedom of thought, saying, “We are still at the stage of patience. We are all watching the course of process. Depending on future developments, we will display our stance and reactions and share our action plan with public. We also believe that French people will act much more sensitively towards the escalating discrimination and leave [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy, his friends and supporters up to the discretion of French people.”

DAVUTOGLU SLAMS FRENCH BILL
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday made a statement on the plane on his way to Moscow.

“If something like this happened in Turkey, who knows how the EU would react. This is hypocrisy. I wonder why it was not adopted last May, but now. The only change is the fact that elections are getting closer in France.”

Davutoglu also called on 350,000 Turkish people living in France to throw their political weight about with regard to the future of France.