Following the approval of a new law in France which makes it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, has said his government will take certain actions in response. Despite overwhelming evidence, Turkey currently denies that the Armenians ever suffered genocide in Turkey during World War I. “Turkey’s foreign trade volume with France is $10 billion and this is equal to 1.5 per cent of France’s whole foreign trade volume,� Erdogan said. “We’re going to make the proper calculations and then take necessary steps.�

The EU also criticized France because of the economic ramifications which could result from the Armenian genocide law. The European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said, “We don’t think that this decision at this moment is helpful in the context of the European Union’s relations with Turkey.” The Armenian government, on the other hand, applauded the French vote, saying that Turkey is carrying out an �intensive, aggressive, and official� campaign to stop the Armenian genocide from being recognized.

The French bill still needs the approval of the upper house, the Senate, and the president to take effect. This week, Turkish consumer groups and trade unions called for a boycott of French products. Without the support of hardline Turks and Bill O�Reilly fans, how will the French economy ever survive?

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