PARIS. – The wave of anger in Turkey, as a result of French National Assembly’s passing of the bill that criminalizes the denial of Armenian Genocide, does not die down. And the 4,000 French, who live in Istanbul, feel this wave more and more, Le Parisien writes.    

“The Turks are offended. Those who were openly pro-French perceive this as an inimical statement and a betrayal,” said a French entrepreneur who is married to a Turk.   

“There is tension,” says Marie-Rose, who heads the socialists’ section. “Most of those who came here assure that the anger is directed at Sarkozy and the politicians, rather than the French.”

The French companies partner with Turkish companies, because they are hopeful that in this way they could shake off the possible adverse phenomena. “We fear they might close before the French the accessibility to take part in tenders, or the Turkish companies could stop cooperating with the French,” Raphael Esposito says.      

Also, an online petition appeared recently, which calls for boycotting French goods. Le Parisien writes that such calls were also made in 2001 and 2006, but they received a response for only a short period.   

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. 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.