Turkey recalls envoy from France over ‘genocide’ bill
The Turkish ambassador to France has been recalled in protest at a bill making it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenians was genocide.
The National Assembly in Paris voted by a show of hands to back the bill by a large majority, and it will go before the Senate next year.
Turkey rejects the term “genocide” to describe the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe publicly opposed the bill.
Under the bill, those publicly denying genocide would face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (£29,000: $58,000).
Armenians say up to 1.5m people were killed by the Ottoman Turks in 1915-16.
Ankara says closer to 300,000 people died, and that Turks were also killed as Armenians rose up against the Ottoman Empire when Russian troops invaded eastern Anatolia, now eastern Turkey.
More than 20 countries have formally recognised the killings as genocide.