Prime Minister Erdogan: France is forcing the door of a dangerous process

ANKARA (A.A) – January 30, 2012 – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that France was forcing the door of a very dangerous process by trying to write history at parliament. Turkey is expecting French people to raise their voices against this, added Erdogan who addressed nation on Monday. Commenting on French Senate's adopting a bill which criminalizes the denial of Armenian allegations regarding 1915 incidents during Ottoman Empire period, Erdogan said that a state, which praised itself of being the leader of enlightenment in history, was now leading the rise of dark medieval mindset. Today, France is using the language of separatism, racism and clashes, said Erdogan, adding that Sarkozy's France was based on dogmas, prejudices and delusions. Noting that Turkey made its warnings to France beforehand, Erdogan said that the mission of parliaments was not to write history. Turkey proposed to leave this issue to historians and scientists, but Sarkozy did not hesitate to crush European values just to gain a few thousand more votes in the upcoming elections, said Erdogan. As I said before, this bill, which was adopted at French Parliament and Senate, is null and void for us, said Erdogan. We pursue our initiatives for French senators to apply to French Constitutional Council against the bill, added Erdogan. The bill penalizes denial of the Armenian allegations regarding 1915 incidents with a prison term of one year and a fine of 45,000 euro.