Turkey hassuspended talks with French company 'Gaz de France' over a key gas pipeline, inprotest at a French bill about the killing of Armenians in World War I.

The planned pipeline would carry natural gas from the Middle East andCentral Asia to Austriathrough Turkey.

 The French Parliament is considering a law that would make it anoffence to deny that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians.

The draft law was approved by the French National Assembly in October. Itwill be considered by the Senate next and then return to the lower house beforeit becomes law.

Turkish denials

The 4.6bn euro ($6.1bn; £3.1bn) Nabucco pipeline project is supposed to reducethe European Union's reliance on Russian gas.

 It also passes through Bulgaria,Romania and Hungary, whichhave already reached agreement with Gaz de France.

The Turkish government strongly denies that as many as 1.5 million Armenianswere killed in systematic killings between 1915 and 1917 under the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey saysthat thousands of Turks and Armenians were killed when Armenians sided withRussian troops invading the empire, but many countries have since recognisedthe killings as genocide.

 The Nabucco pipeline also passes through Bulgaria,Romania and Hungary, whichhave already reached agreement with Gaz de France.

BBC