PARIS. – France stated that Turkish sanctions against French companies are unlawful, since they run counter to World Bank (WB) regulations.

To note, Turkey decided to impose several economic and diplomatic sanctions against France, when its National Assembly passed the bill that criminalizes the denial of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide.

“I advise the Turks not to enter into such affairs because that would simply be unlawful,” stated Pierre Lellouche, French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade. In his view, Turkey will hardly impose economic sanctions against France. 

“They are a WB member; they have signed the agreement on free exchange of goods with EU countries, and there cannot be any talk of discriminatory conduct against French companies. I am hopeful the Turkish leaders would be so wise,” Lellouche said.   

To note, the French National Assembly passed, on December 22, the bill that criminalizes the denial of genocides. But the bill still needs to be approved by the French Senate to become a law, and it is not yet clear whether the Senate will actually discuss it. The bill sets a one-year prison sentence plus a 45-thousand-Euro fine for anyone who denies genocides. And in reprisal to the passage of this bill, Turkey recalled its ambassador to France, and Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Turkey’s eight-point sanctions against France. Also, Erdogan accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of “provoking Islamophobia” for election purposes, and accused France of committing genocide against the Algerians.