Turkey recalls French ambassador over Armenian genocide denial law

People holding the Turkish flag take part in a rally next to 

the French National Assembly on December 22, 2011 

in Paris as the French parliament is today expected to approve 

the bill, which would see anyone in France who publicly 

denies the 1915 Armenian genocide face a year in

 jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($58,000) today and i

s expected to approve it (AFP Photo / Fred Dufour)

 Turkey is suspending military ties with France and recalling its ambassador to the country. Ankara is making the move in protest after the French parliament passed a law making the denial of the Armenian holocaust a crime.

The French lawmakers put the 1915 atrocity on a par with Holocaust denial by simple raising their hands on Thursday in overwhelming majority. The measure now goes to the Senate, which this year has killed an earlier attempt at passing the criminal law. 

In 2001 France, sheltering the largest ethnic Armenian community in Europe, officially recognized the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, but did not institute a penalty for those who deny the genocide or "outrageously minimize" the killings. Now, the proposed law carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euro ($58,870).

France does not view the bill as "an attack against Turkey,"  since it applies to all genocides and is not specifically about the Armenian killings.

"The government backs the idea that genocides cannot be denied," said government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse after a weekly cabinet meeting. "Each and every country must have the courage to … assess its history with lucidity."

Turkey insists up to 1.5 million Armenians killed in 1915-1916 were victims of World War I and rejects the term "genocide." Ankara called the measure "petty political calculations", suggesting President Nicolas Sarkozy is seeking the support of the Armenian community in France in the upcoming presidential poll. 

In its campaign against the legislation, Turkey has warned France of "grave consequences" to economic and political ties. About 3,000 members of the Turkish community gathered behind France's National Assembly in Paris on Thursday to protest against the bill.

The Armenian genocide has already been acknowledged and condemned by a variety of institutions, states and regions, including the European Parliament; Argentina, Canada, Poland, Russia, Venezuela, Vatican City; 43 of the US states, the Basque Country and Catalonia in Spain, the Crimea in the Ukraine, and others.

Ankara says closer to 300,000 people died, and points out that Turks were also killed in the conflict between the Armenians and the Ottoman Empire, complicated by an intervention of Russian troops.