Only Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide can turn the page of the 1915 tragic events, the head of Armenia-France parliamentary friendship group Francois Rochebloine said in French parliament on Thursday.

“I understand the pain of the French citizens of Armenian descent. It should be admitted that Young Turks perpetrated targeted massacres of Armenians in 1915,” he said at the debates on bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

He stressed that threats voiced by Turkey are unacceptable. “Distortion of history and destruction of cultural heritage remains unpunished. France, as a sovereign state, cannot do anything but respond to these actions,” he added.

The bill supposes a year imprisonment and 45,000 euro fine for denying the fact of the Armenain Genocide.