Discussion of the alleged Ottoman-era genocide of Armenians in Turkey in the French Senate will do nothing to improve intergovernmental relations, said Ali Hasanov, chief of the Social and Political Affairs Department at the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan.
"Including this issue in the French parliament's agenda is politicization of an event associated with history. This issue should be studied and discussed by historians," Ali Hasanov told journalists.
His remarks came as the French parliament adopted a bill making it a crime to deny Armenian claims of "genocide" during the 1915 events.
Ali Hasanov warned that the French legislature's tabling the issue would have an adverse impact on France-Turkey relations.
"At the same time, Azerbaijan is in a state of war with Armenia. Armenian leadership is responsible for such a tragic event as Khojaly (a massacre committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis during the Karabakh war in 1992), and they are the ones raising such fictitious issues. Such events will not positively affect relations between states," Hasanov said.

AzerTAc