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French FM: â€œI urge Turkey to remain calm and extend a hand of friendshipâ€

24 January 2012 11:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. â€œLast nightâ€™s vote was â€œinopportune,â€ French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Canal-Plus television, urging Turkey to remain calm. â€œTurkey and France need each other to work together on many issues,â€ he said. â€œI hope reason wins out over passionâ€. He said he extended a hand of friendship to economically and politically strong Turkey. â€œMany French companies are operating in Turkey. We have very important trade and economic relations with this countryâ€.

Member of the French parliament from the ruling Union for a Popular Movement Valerie Boyer said that she was proud to be an architect of a draft law criminalizing the denial of made-up â€œArmenian genocideâ€. She burst into tears when her initiative was approved by the Senate.

Turkey’s Ambassador in Paris Tahsin BurcuoÄŸlu called the French parliamentâ€™s decision as a wrong step. â€œThis is very wrong decision. We are not responsible for that. We have done our best to prevent this draft law," said BurcuoÄŸlu.