Seventy-two signatures have been collected so far, although only 60 were enough, Le Figaro writes.

With a vote of 127 in favor and 86 against, France’s Senate passed on January 23 criminalizes the denial of the genocides which this country has formally recognized.

This bill sets a one-year prison sentence plus a 45-thousand-Euro fine for anyone who denies these genocides. According to the regulations, the French President will ratify it within fifteen days of the Senate’s decision. And Turkey had announced earlier that if the bill were to pass, it will impose a number of sanctions against France.

Constitutional Council can censor the law which it considers unconstitutional if 60 appeals from the Senators are received.

The Council will decide whether the law is constitutional in a month.

The French Senate adopted bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial after long debates on Monday.

President of France will ratify the law in 15 days after receiving the finally adopted law from the government. He can ask the parliament to review the full law or certain articles. The review cannot be rejected.

Last December the French Parliament adopted the bill penalizing denial of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide. The law introduced by MP Valerie Boyer, in case of violation, intends one year of imprisonment and a fine amounting to €45,000.

The French parliament is to vote on a bill on Thursday making it illegal to deny that the 1915 killing of Armenians during World War I was genocide. The bill, which is expected to pass, provides for a one-year prison term and a fine of $58,000 (45,000 euros) to anyone who publicly denies it was genocide.

The vote in the French National Assembly has stirred a diplomatic frenzy and French and Turkish politicians are jumping into the fray.

Recommended: Five ways Tayyip Erdogan has shaped Turkey

“This proposed law targets and is hostile to the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish nation and the Turkish community living in France,” Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister wrote in a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Reuters reports.

During a Saturday news conference, Mr. Erdogan suggested that France ought to investigate her own role and actions in colonial Africa, including Rwanda.

Turkey maintains that the proposed bill is a political ploy by Sarkozy’s political party to win the votes of 500,000 Armenians in France ahead of next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Sarkozy has also been an outspoken opponent of Turkey desire to join the European Union.

Jean Leonetti, the European Affairs Minister of France, dismisses such allegations and says that opposition Socialists will endorse the bill as well. “It has been nearly 100 years since the Armenian genocide took place, those responsible are dead, it is simply a matter of recognizing a fact of history,” he told Radio Classique, The Telegraph in London reports.

Ersin Onulduran, chairman of the department of international relations at Ankara University, told Today’s Zaman, a Turkish daily, that “only historians and archival experts should pass judgment on the merits of historical events.”

Although there is little consensus, Armenians say that about 1.5 million people were killed during the mass deportations of 1915-16.

The Turkish government acknowledges the death of many Armenians, yet, it denies that Ottoman forces deliberately exterminated them. Turkey considers the numbers as inflated and says that Turks were also killed due to the upheaval that followed the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.

Many Turks, disappointed and disillusioned by European delays over entry into the EU, are now embracing a more assertive rhetoric.

“I want to state clearly that such steps will have grave consequences for future relations between Turkey and France in political, economic, cultural and all areas,” Erdogan said according to Reuters. While Turkey implicitly threatens to boycott French products if the bill passes, it has ruled out imposing trade sanctions.

So far this year, bilateral trade between Turkey and France is estimated at more than $13.5 billion. About 1,000 French companies operate in Turkey.

“We have to remember international rules and with regard to Turkey it’s a member of the WTO (World Trade Organization) and is linked to the European Union by a customs union and these two commitments mean a non-discriminatory policy towards all companies within the European Union,” said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero, Reuters reports.

In 2006, a similar bill was introduced and approved by the French National Assembly but was later dropped by the Senate. In France, any legislative initiative requires the endorsement of both parliament and the Senate to be enacted.

The bill will be submitted for French Senate’s confirmation.

“It will be Western Georgia’s commercial and economic, and Georgia’s main, center at the Black Sea coast,” Saakashvili noted.

Large-scale construction will commence in the coming year. The city will also have a large port. “We will create several thousand jobs,” the Georgian President noted, stressing that a tender will be announced for the engineering and construction activities.

The European Commission adopted on Monday the second part of the Annual Action Program (AAP) for Armenia for 2011, worth € 24 million.

The program will contribute to the improvement of public sector transparency and performance, including the broadening of e-governance systems.

Moreover it will assist achieve regulatory convergence with the EU and international laws and standards in the areas of trade, for instance improving customs legislation, says the official website of the Commission.

Commenting on the program, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule said the decision shows that the EU stands ready to fulfill its promise to provide political support and increased assistance both financially and through advice and technical know-how.

“Our assistance has direct influence on the everyday life of Armenian citizens, since it aims for instance to improve data protection and to enhance and broaden e-governance systems in order to facilitate instance access for citizens to public databases,” he said.

Demonstrators in Tehran stormed the building of the British Embassy.

Iranian police initially did not try to interfere with the thugs, and then blocked access to the Embassy. Those who still managed to reach the territory of the British mission will be detained, reports AFP.

Reuters reports that the protesters got inside the building and threw the Embassy documents out of the windows. There are several dozen people inside the building.

Iranian television reported that during the anti-British demonstrations, protesters pelted the embassy with stones and Molotov cocktails, smashing several windows.

The demonstrators tore and burned the British flag, replacing it with Iranian.

Protests in Iran have been caused by the introduction of the UK for new sanctions against Tehran.

ISTANBUL. – Turkish press widely covered Taraf daily’s columnist Roni Margulies’ funny story about three unlucky Turks, who were found guilty of wearing Emporio Armani t-shirts and thus carrying out Armenian propaganda.

In his article, Margulies presents the three Turks’ self-defending speeches made in the court. “…a merchant asked me why I’m wearing that t-shirt and called the police…I don’t think I was making propaganda,” said the first defendant.

The second defendant noted that he already gave testimony to the gendarmerie, insisting: “I didn’t have ulterior motives…That t-shirt is a very well-known Italian brand…I don’t find myself guilty.”

The third defendant likewise did not find himself to be guilty, underscoring that the t-shirt was a gift from his mother, since it is a famous Italian brand.

The article also notes that the three translators, who had come as a result of a public announcement by Town Hall of Avsha Island, where this incident occurred, confirmed that Emporio Armani means “Armenian Empire,” and subsequently the defendants were sentenced to life in prison.

Roni Margulies also wrote this story might sound improbable, but stated that, aside from the court ruling, rest of the story is completely true.

YEREVAN. – Press secretary of Armenian Minister of Defense David Karapetyan commented on information published in the media that Armenia purchased nonfunctional weaponry from Moldova.

“Purchase of weaponry and military equipment for Armenian army is carried out under relevant norms and regulations of Armenian Constitution and International law. For national security reasons information on quantity and variety of armament as well as details about the seller are not subject for publication,’’ said Karapetyan. ‘‘I can only assure you that ever since its independence Armenia did not purchase nonfunctional weaponry.”

Now is the time to demonstrate the political will in Karabakh conflict resolution, reads the statement released on Monday by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh, Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the U. S., and Igor Popov of the Russia.

The co-chairs traveled on July 11-18 to Moscow, Vilnius, Baku, and Yerevan. They met in Moscow with Russian FM Lavrov to discuss developments in the Minsk Group process to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In Vilnius, the co-chairs briefed OSCE Cahirperson-in-Office FM Azubalis on the peace process and steps taken since the talks in Kazan.

“In Baku and Yerevan, the co-chairs met with Presidents Aliyev and Sargsian, respectively. The co-chairs reiterated to both presidents the importance of reaching agreement on the Basic Principles [of Karabakh conflict resolution] as the framework for moving to final settlement negotiations,” reads the statement. “They emphasized that now is the time to demonstrate the political will needed to bring lasting peace, security, and reconciliation to the peoples of the region. The presidents committed to provide their reactions soon to the most recent formulations proposed for the framework document, and to continue to work with the co-chairs and the co-chair governments on the process of seeking a peaceful settlement.”