ANKARA. – Turkey’s Speaker Cemil Cicek sent a letter to the President of French Senate Jean-Pierre Bel regarding the bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Cicek pays Bel’s attention to the fact that adoption of the bill may seriously and deeply damage bilateral relations, Turkish Hurriyet reports.

The Turkish Speaker hopes that the bill will not be adopted thanks to Bel’s common sense.

To note, French National Assembly passed the bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide on Dec. 22, 2011. In response, Turkey threatened to impose sanctions and even temporarily recalled its Ambassador from Paris. The French Senate will discuss the bill on Jan. 23.