Turkish President Abdullah Gul made an appeal to France on Tuesday to drop an Armenian genocide bill as soon as possible, saying that the planned legislation was unacceptable.

“It is not possible for us to accept this bill which denies us the freedom to reject unfair and groundless accusations targeting our country and our nation,” Gul said in a statement.

His remarks came as the French parliament prepares to vote Thursday on a law making it illegal to deny the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Gul urged France to abort this initiative as soon as possible as it will block any objective research of the 1915 events....