ANKARA. – Turkish President Abdullah Gul responded to the journalists’ questions in connection with the French National Assembly’s passing of the bill that criminalizes the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Gul stated that the French intellectuals and businessmen are righteous, and they will end this process which runs counter to their values.

“The Turkish-French relations are ancient. With this current demeanor by the French President, a blow is dealt to these relations. France is a Co-Chairing country of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, which is established to settle the instability created in the Caucasus. Our reaction is lawful, and it will continue,” Abdullah Gul said, Sabah daily of Turkey informs.

To note, the French National Assembly passed Thursday the bill that criminalizes the denial of genocides. But the bill still needs to be approved by the French Senate, and the respective discussions could last several months. 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 at the French National Assembly, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Turkey’s eight-point sanctions imposed against France.