Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 22 /Trend/
Azerbaijan strongly condemns the adoption by the French National Assembly a draft law of "Ban the denial of the Armenian genocide", said in the statement of Foreign Ministry.
Azerbaijan claims that this step contradicts the basic principles of democracy in the European space - freedom of speech and opinion is at odds with the obligations of the rights and fundamental freedoms taken by France, said in a press release issued on Thursday.
"Azerbaijan expresses its deep regret at the fact that with the adoption by the French National Assembly this draft law the international community turns a blind eye to the fact that hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were subjected to ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories, turning them into internally displaced people on their lands, as well as a gross violation of their rights",- said in a statement of the Foreign Ministry.
On Thursday, the French parliament adopted a bill criminalizing denial of the so-called "Armenian Genocide".
Some 45 out of 577 French MPs participated in the voting, 38 of which voted for, while 7 voted against the adoption of the bill.
The bill envisages about one year imprisonment and a fine worth 45,000 euros for denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide".
Turkey imposes sanctions against France, the first phase of which includes termination of all bilateral visits in the economy, energy and military spheres. Along with it, all the political relations with France will also be frozen.
