Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter today to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, warning of the "grave consequences" a French bill recognizing Armenian genocide claims would have on bilateral relations, Hurriyet Daily News reports on Friday.
"I want to express this clearly," Erdogan said. "These steps will lead to grave consequences for the cultural, economic and political relations between France and Turkey, and the responsibility of these consequences will fall on those who initiated those steps."
Erdoğan further said such a bill would be seen as directly "targeting the Turkish state, the Turkish nation, and the Turkish community living in France."
The Turkish community still has fresh memories of the assassinations of Turkish diplomats and statesmen by Armenian militants, the letter read.
"We should not enslave our bilateral relations to the wishes of a third party," Erdogan said. "This is a serious, sensitive issue. It is important that common sense prevails over political aims."
On December 15, Turkish officials said that if the bill was passed, Ankara would recall its ambassador and freeze bilateral ties with France.
