French denial legislation threat for European culture

MOSCOW (A.A) - January 25, 2012 - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday said a French bill adopted by the upper house of the French parliament on Monday was a threat to the European culture. "This is a dangerous game the French president is playing by making such maneuvers to win extreme right votes, ultranationalist and Islamophobic circles," Davutoglu told Turkish journalists after a meeting in Moscow with Russian officials as part of talks under the Joint Strategic Planning Group between the two countries.     The French senate on Monday adopted the bill that makes it crime to deny Armenian allegations on the Ottoman era incidents of 1915. The bill penalizes denial of the Armenian allegations with a prison term of one year and a fine of 45 thousand euros.  Davutoglu also rejected French President Nicolas Sarkozy's remarks that the bill did not target any specific country. "This is not true. Turkey has a state experience strong enough to make a judgement who passes what piece of legislation to what end," he said. The Turkish foreign minister said "prudence called for wise French senators" to appeal to French constitutional court for the annulment of the law.      Touching on civil unrest in Syria, Davutoglu said talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov also focused on urgent need to bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria, adding that Turkey and Russia agreed that Syrian government should take solid steps to pass and implement reforms.   "Turkey has never pursued a policy of unilateral intervention regarding Syria. But at current circumstances everyone needs to fulfill their obligations. Because the crisis is still continuing," Davutoglu said.