Turkish President Abdullah Gul has warned France of ‘grave consequence if the proposed legislation to outlaw the Armenian Genocide is passed by the French lower house of parliament on Thursday.
"It is impossible for us to accept a draft law directed toward eliminating the freedom to reject unjust and groundless accusations against our country and our people," the Turkish president said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
"I hope that France will soon abandon the initiative which will put France in a position of a country that does not respect freedom of expression and does not allow objective scientific research," he said.
"I want to hope that France will not sacrifice the Turkish-French friendship which goes back hundreds of years, its common interests and alliance for petty political calculations," he added.
The proposed bill would make it a crime to deny any genocide, war crime or crime against humanity that has been recognised by the French government.
A French foreign ministry spokesman stressed that Thursday’s debate was a parliamentary initiative and not initiated by President Sarkozy and his government.