French National Assembly passes Armenian Genocide denial criminalization bill

The bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide has received the the French National Assembly's approval.

Under the legal act proposed by lawmaker Valerie Voyer, anyone on the territory of France denying the fact of the Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire in the WWI period will face one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 Euros.
A similar bill adopted by the National Assembly on October 16, 2006 was never approved by the Senate. In May, 2011, the upper chamber of the French parliament rejected the proposal by a vote of 74 in favor and 196 against.
Ankara has numerously slammed France over the bill, saying that its passage would have irrevocable consequences on the French-Turkish relations. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said the initiative is against the Turkish state, Turkish nation and the Turkish community of France. In a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Erdogan said the adoption of the bill would neghatively affect the political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries.