Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed never to visit France again if the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial passes in the country's Senate.

"I won't go to France again if the bill is approved,” Erdogan said, claiming that the bill “violates freedom of speech and is only a ploy for the coming elections in France.”

Today, January 23, the French Senate will debate a bill criminalizing public denial of the Armenian Genocide. The motion was adopted on December 22, 2011, by the lower house of the French parliament - National Assembly.

If passed and signed into law by the Senate, the bill would impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.