Turkish economy minister says bill will seriously harm France

GENEVA (A.A) - December 16, 2011 - Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan has said that a draft law criminalizing rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915 would seriously harm France. Caglayan, who is currently in Geneva, told AA correspondent on Friday that the bill was brought up in France ahead of presidential election set to be held in 2012. It was a tactic by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to impress French public opinion, he said. Caglayan said Turkish people in Turkey and who were living abroad would assume a negative attitude against French products because of the bill, stating that therefore France would be affected negatively by it. A French parliamentary commission adopted a resolution on Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915 last week. The resolution will be voted at the general assembly on December 19.  The resolution envisages "one-year prison term and 45,000 Euro fine for those who deny genocide recognized by French laws." The French Parliament ratified a resolution saying that "France recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915" on January 29, 2011.