Armenian FM: Genocide bill adoption won’t affect Armenia-Turkey relations

 January 16, 2012 - 14:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Foreign Minister ruled out possible influence of adoption of the bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial by the French National Assembly on the development of Armenian-Turkish relations.

“Armenia-Turkey reconciliation is thoroughly a different issue that mainly depends on Turkey’s stance,” Edward Nalbandian said.

Dwelling on Turkey’s threats against France, he dismissed them as “too weak to yield success.”

On December 22, 2011, French National Assembly passed a bill criminalizing public denial of the Armenian Genocide. If passed and signed into law by the Senate, the bill would impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

The bill will be debated at French Senate on January 23.