Turkmen warns socialists on "genocide" bill vote
Ankara has been urging Paris to block a bill criminalizing the denial of the 1915 events as genocide which will be voted at French Senate next week. Speaking to the Reuters agency on Monday, Kaya Turkmen, Director General for Europe at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said, "The message we are trying to pass to the Socialist Party and [its leader] Francois Hollande is that you'll make a bad start with Turkey, if you vote for this," adding, "The Turkish government is under pressure from the public. If France does this, we will have to punish it one way or another."