Turkey Warns France Over Armenian 'Genocide' Bill

Artur Bagdasarian, head of the Armenian parliament, at the unveiling of a memorial stone to the victims of the Armenian 'genocide' in Marseille, France in April 2006. (epa)

October 6, 2006 -- Turkey today warned France that bilateral ties will suffer "irreparable damage" if the French parliament passes a bill make it a criminal offence to deny that Armenians were the victims of a genocide during World War I.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan appealed to French lawmakers to block the bill when it comes up for discussion on October 12.

(AFP)