French senators are set to vote on Monday over a controversial bill, which would make the denial of the killing of over 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 by Turkey as genocide, a crime.
The bill was overwhelmingly passed through France’s lower house of parliament in December, which prompted outrage in Turkey and led to the cutting off of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
On Saturday thousands of Turkish protestors from across Europe came to Paris, to demonstrate against the bill. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc commented on Monday,
"What would happen if a thousand, ten thousand or a hundred thousand gathered around Eiffel and said 'there is no genocide'? What would the French justice do? Would it be able to convict ten thousand or a hundred thousand people? I don't think so."
Ross Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey stated that the country’s vehement opposition to the bill may harm its efforts to join the European Union.
"This will create a lot of noise and difficulty in Turkey's overall relationships with France and other EU states that will complicate that effort."
The result from the Senate vote will be released on Monday evening.
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