(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - In a statement broadcast by state media late Wednesday, the Turkish premier said, “Tomorrow probably I will announce what we will do at the first stage and we will announce what kind of sanctions we will have at the second and third stages."
Ethnic Armenian residents in France allege that up to “1.5 million” of their ancestors were killed during World War I “by the forces of Turkey's former Ottoman Empire."
Ankara, however, has vehemently denied the allegation.
In 2001, France officially recognized the killing of Armenians as “genocide".
On Thursday, the French parliament is expected to approve an extraordinary bill that would sentence “anyone in France who publicly denies the 1915 genocide to a year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (USD 58,000)".
Erdogan emphasized in his statement that the move, pushed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party, would “harm Franco-Turkish relations."
The 400,000-strong Armenian population in France is expected to play a major role in the French president's re-election battle in April 2012.
Last week, the Turkish premier strongly criticized France over the bill, saying, "Those who want to see genocide should turn around and look at their own dirty, bloody history."
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