Turkey condemns approval of genocide bill by French Parliament

Turkey has strongly condemned the approval of a bill criminalizing the denial of alleged Armenian genocide at the French National Assembly yesterday. A statement released by Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the initiative defamed Turkish history on the basis of one-sided interpretations and aimed to deprive Turkey from its right to defend itself against this injustice. The statement described it as an unjust and inappropriate bill which contradicted relevant rules of the international law, adding that it is extremely unfortunate that such a serious issue is abused for electoral purposes in spite of all the demarches, friendly and constructive warnings conveyed to France, as well as promises previously received. "This bill constitutes a grave example of politicization of history for the sake of narrow political calculations and stifling of freedom of expression by a democratic institution. France has thus preferred to ignore the universal values which it had a share in developing," the statement said. The statement stressed that the bill restricted freedom of expression of all scholars and researchers researching the historical events from different perspectives, adding that it contradicts the international law, European norms, the reports of the French Parliament itself and the earlier official declarations made by French government on the issue.