Turkey retaliates over French 'genocide' bill

The Turkish prime minister has announced measures against France after MPs passed a bill criminalising denial of the 1915-16 Armenian "genocide".

Ankara is recalling its ambassador and freezing political visits as well as joint military projects, including exercises, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

The bill was passed by the French National Assembly on Thursday and is due to go before the Senate next year.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has publicly opposed it.

Under the bill, those publicly denying genocide would face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (£29,000; $58,000).

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed by the Ottoman Turks in 1915-16.

Ankara says closer to 300,000 people died, and that Turks were also killed as Armenians rose up against the Ottoman Empire when Russian troops invaded eastern Anatolia, now eastern Turkey.

More than 20 countries have formally recognised the killings as genocide.

'Irreparable wounds'

According to French news agency AFP, angry crowds in the Turkish capital, Ankara, have been chanting: "We have not committed genocide, we defended the homeland.

"Wait for us France, we will come."

Speaking in Ankara, Mr Erdogan suggested the bill would create lasting damage to relations with France.

"This will open very grave and irreparable wounds," he said.

He said Ankara would cancel permission for French military planes to land and warships to dock in Turkey as a result of the bill, Reuters news agency reports.

Relations between the two countries are at an all-time low thanks to French President Nicholas Sarkozy's opposition to Turkey's bid for membership of the EU, the BBC's David O'Byrne reports from Istanbul.