Chairperson of the Turkish-French Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group and a Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy from Sanliurfa, Kasim Gulpinar, said Thursday that the Turks should wait until the Armenian resolution adopted at the French Parliament today gets to the French Senate where another voting would take place before the resolution becomes a law.
Speaking to the AA in Ankara, Gulpinar said that the adoption of the Armenian resolution at the French Parliament on Thursday was not a surprise.
"Let us wait until the Armenian resolution gets to the French Senate. There is a group at the French Senate that understands Turkey and are friendly towards the Turks," Gulpinar stressed.
The resolution adopted at the French Parliament on Thursday criminalizes the rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915 with a prison term of one year and a monetary fine of 45,000 euros.
Turkey strongly opposes the issue of the incidents of 1915 being used as a tool in French politics. Many believe that French President Nicolas Sarkozy supports the Armenian resolution in order to garner support from France's Armenian population that number around 500,000.
France will hold the first round of next year's presidential election on April 22 and the second round run-off on May 6. French President Sarkozy is running for a second term.
AA
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