Bagis: "A French 'genocide' bill could hurt bilateral ties"

Though French officials say that Paris won't support an Armenian bill proposing punishment for anyone who denies the alleged "Armenian genocide," its passage could cast a long shadow over Turkish-French ties, warned State Minister and European Union Talks Negotiator Egemen Bagis yesterday. Bagis told reporters that the officials reassured him that the government is "clearly and openly" against the bill in the French Senate. Bagis, currently on an official visit to Paris, said the officials also pledged to push socialists, the bill's primary sponsors, not to bring it to the Senate floor. "If we try to make decisions focused on the past instead of shaping the future, if we attempt to assume the tasks of historians, we can seriously harm both of our countries and relations between us," he added.