Turkish President and Prime Minister were promised about Armenian resolution, says Deputy PM Babacan

ANKARA (A.A) - December 25, 2011 - Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Sunday that "Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan were promised by French officials that the Armenian resolution would not be adopted at the French Parliament". Speaking at the headquarters of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in Ankara, Babacan said that he personally heard such promises made to Turkish leaders. "Yet, what happened last week? Where are the promises? A promise is very important in politics. If the promise was made by a statesman, the promise binds the state and the country," Babacan said. We will wait and see how the French people react to the decision of the French Parliament (on the Armenian resolution). The upcoming term in France will be exemplary, Babacan stressed. The lower house of the French Parliament adopted on Thursday a resolution that criminalizes rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the incidents of 1915. Only 70 out of 577 parliamentarians joined the voting of the resolution which was adopted with majority of votes.  The resolution envisages "one-year prison term and 45,000 Euro fine for those who deny genocide recognized by French laws." French Parliament had recognized so-called Armenian genocide in 1915 on January 29, 2001. The draft criminalizing the rejection of Armenian allegations had first been approved in 2006, but it could not become a law as French President Nicolas Sarkozy prevented its presentation to Senate. Now, the senate's approval is necessary to make the resolution a law.  Turkey strongly opposes the issue of the incidents of 1915 being used as a tool in French politics. Many believe that French President 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. Sarkozy is running for a second term. If the resolution is not adopted at the senate till February 22, 2012 when the parliament and senate will recess for presidential elections, it will be invalid.