The Turkish government and news media castigated France on Tuesday, accusing the Parliament of racism and a breach of France’s own free-speech principles after the French Senate passed a bill late Monday criminalizing the denial of officially recognized genocides, including the Armenian genocide begun in 1915.
Historians widely believe that about 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by Ottoman Turks during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in what they deem the 20th century’s first genocide.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will sign the bill into law within two weeks, an aide confirmed Tuesday.
The bill has infuriated Turkey, which has long maintained that Armenian deaths were far fewer in number and not the result of systematic killings. Indeed, recognizing them as genocide is criminal under Turkish law and considered an insult to Turkish identity.
Denver Post wire services
