An Armenian resolution at French Senate may cause great harm to Turkish-French relations, says PM Erdogan

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that an Armenian resolution at the French Senate may cause great harm to Turkish-French relations if it gets adopted there. Answering questions of the media at a joint press conference with his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara, Erdogan said that there were around 550,000 Turks living in France and that there were also circles in France that supported Turkey's arguments vis-a-vis the incidents of 1915. We are currently in touch will all non-governmental organizations who support Turkey. There are French companies in Turkey with important investments. These French companies have been bothered by the steps taken against Turkey in France, Erdogan said. These French establishments wrote letters and sent them to the French authorities. We will have talks with French businesspeople in Turkey on this issue related to the incidents of 1915, Erdogan also said. French Minister of Relations with Parliament, Patrick Ollier, said Monday that the French government would take an Armenian resolution criminalizing the denial of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915 to the French Senate's agenda on January 23. The lower house of the French parliament adopted in December a resolution that criminalizes rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915. Only 70 out of 577 parliamentarians joined the voting of the resolution which was adopted with majority of votes. The resolution envisages "one-year prison term and 45,000 Euro fine for those who deny genocide recognized by French laws." French Parliament had recognized so-called Armenian genocide in 1915 on January 29, 2001. The draft criminalizing the rejection of Armenian allegations had first been approved in 2006, but it could not become a law as French President Nicolas Sarkozy prevented its presentation to Senate. Now, the senate's approval is necessary to make the resolution a law. Turkey strongly opposes the issue of the incidents of 1915 being used as a tool in French politics. Many believe that French President Sarkozy supports the Armenian resolution in order to garner support from France's Armenian population that number around 500,000. France will hold the first round of this year's presidential election on April 22 and the second round run-off on May 6. Sarkozy is running for a second term. If the resolution is not adopted at the senate till February 22, 2012 when the parliament and senate will recess for presidential elections, it will be invalid.