French senate votes on Armenia genocide bill

French senators began debating a bill yesterday to outlaw denial of the Armenian genocide, despite a furious Turkey vowing to punish Paris with “permanent” sanctions if it is passed into law.

The French lower house drew a first wave of Turkish ire last month, when it approved the bill which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide.

Ankara froze political and military ties with France and has promised further measures if the bill is passed by the Senate or is approved by President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose right-wing UMP party put forward the bill.

“We appeal for calm,” said French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. “Turkey is a very important partner and ally of France.”

Senators were due to vote on the diplomatically fraught bill later yesterday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who cancelled talks with EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Iran’s nuclear drive to deal with the crisis, said Ankara had already prepared its response.

“We have previously determined the steps to be taken if the bill is finally adopted. No one should doubt it,” the state-run Anatolia news agency quoted Davutoglu as saying.

Davutoglu said last Saturday the law would trigger “permanent sanctions”, arguing that it goes against European values and would not help Turkish-Armenian relations.