Virtually all headlines of the Turkish print media on Tuesday referred to the French Senate’s passing of the bill that criminalizes the denial of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide.  

Aksam – “History is decapitated”

Hurriyet – “Democracy is massacred”

Milliyet – “Theater in empty hall”

Vatan – “France, you should be ashamed!”

Turkiye – “Europe denied itself”

Star – “Beheading of the freedom of speech”

Posta – “Sarkozy, you should be the one to think”

Cumhuriyet – “French justice”

Radikal – “The Senate wrote ‘history’”

Yeni Akit – “The French Senate, too, said ‘We are all Armenian’”

To note, with a vote of 127 in favor and 86 against, France’s Senate passed Monday the bill that criminalizes the denial of the genocides which this country has formally recognized. And these are the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust. This bill sets a one-year prison sentence plus a 45-thousand-Euro fine for anyone who denies these genocides. According to the regulations, the French President will ratify it within fifteen days. And Turkey had announced earlier that if the bill were to pass, it will impose a number of sanctions against France.