During a television program, Turkey’s president Abdullah Gul yet again reflected on the French National Assembly’s passing of the bill that criminalizes the denial of Armenian Genocide.  

The Turkish president noted that France made an unforgivable mistake by passing this bill. “Turkey is not to be blamed here. I am hopeful they will correct that mistake,” Gul said.  

And looking into relations with Armenia, Turkey’s president recalled the process of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations, stressing that Turkey had consulted with Azerbaijan during that time. “Everyone spoke positively concerning the process. The current situation is to the benefit of neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia nor even Turkey. The way out of this is apparent. Turkey is the strongest and largest country in the region. Economic, political, and cultural ties need to be established with the countries of the region,” Abdullah Gul stated, Zaman daily of Turkey informs.    

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, which is expected to discuss it in February. 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.