Turkey welcomes French council's ruling

Turkey welcomed yesterday the ruling by France's highest court to overturn a law that would criminalize the denial of a disputed Armenian genocide in 1915. Ankara expressed its satisfaction with the law and said this would remove hurdles standing in the way of improvement of relations between the two countries. "This is a very positive decision. I thank the members of Council for their respectful decision. It will set a precedent as well," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters. Asked whether this would lead to a restart of contacts with France, he said: "This verdict is still new. We will consider the subject of sanctions with the prime minister, president and cabinet." Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc sent a twitter message, saying the French Constitutional Council, in considering the bill unconstitutional, "gave a lesson to French politicians who signed the bill, which was an example of absurdity." "This decision has averted a potentially serious crisis in Turkish-French ties," he added.