Turkish State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis urged during a meeting with French Senators to refrain from adopting the bill on criminalization of the Armenian Genocide denial.

“The bill adoption by the Senate is fraught with sharp worsening of the French-Turkish relations. Lawmakers should not deal with the work of historian and assess the past, they should deal with building future,” said Bagis.

According to him, it would have been better if French lawmakers paid greater attention to the Karabakh conflict settlement.

“I was told during a meeting with President Sarkozy’s advisor that the French leader is against the bill ratification by the Senate,” Cumhuriyet quoted Bagis as saying.

On May 4, the Socialist Party of France will put the bill on criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial on Senate agenda. The bill envisages up to five years of imprisonment or fine at the amount of 45,000 euros for the Armenian Genocide denial.