France, Turkey move to mend ties after Paris ditches genocide law for good Turkey on Thursday moved to repair ties with France after Paris said it will not resurrect a law on the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915. French MPs from the centre-right UMP party put forward a bill last year that would have made it a crime to deny that their deaths amounted to genocide. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters that Ankara had lifted all diplomatic and economic sanctions taken against France. "As a result of the few difficulties which we have experienced in the past, Turkey took a series of measures against France, but I'd like to announce that these measures have been completely removed," he said. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius "hailed a new period of relations on every level" between the two countries. France, which has half a million citizens of Armenian descent, already recognised the killings as genocide in 2001. But last year's bill sparked protests across Turkey. Turkish officials recognise atrocities were committed but deny there was any systematic attempt to wipe out the Armenian people. More about: Diplomatic mission, France, Turkey