Turkish FM says more may follow in sanctions against France

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish foreign minister has said more could follow in sanctions Turkey had taken against France over a bill penalizing denial of the Armenian allegations regarding the Ottoman era incidents of 1915. "Sanctions Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced yesterday was first phase. Our sanctions could become more powerful or they may ease in line with the position France will assume," Ahmet Davutoglu told a gathering of Turkish ambassadors in capital Ankara. The lower house of the French parliament on Thursday adopted a bill that makes it a crime to deny the Armenian allegations with a prison term of one year and a fine of 45 thousand euros.     Turkey recalled its ambassador in Paris in retaliation and cancelled all political and military meetings as well as joint military maneuvers.     The bill needs approval of the French senate before winning any binding power and it has come to the senate floor for debate before February 22. A similar bill in 2006 -- proposed by the Socialist Party back then -- was approved by the lower house of the French assembly but the French senate rejected to debate the bill last May.  The bill had the backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy who had recently expressed support during a visit to Yerevan last October ahead of the presidential elections next year.       "Now they placed the burden, this bomb with its fuse on it, on the senate which is set to decide whether to preserve the European values. It is their test now and we will see how they will do," Davutoglu said.  "Turkey is no more a country that has to obey to whatever it is told. Turkey is making diplomacy all around the world and showing its power," he said.