Turkey studying measures against France

"Turkey's foreign trade volume with France is $10 billion (5.4 billion pounds) and this is equal to 1.5 percent of France's whole foreign trade volume. We're going to make the proper calculations and then take necessary steps," Erdogan said in a speech.

He did not elaborate, but said the government would take measures within Turkey and abroad.

France's lower house of parliament voted for the bill on Thursday, despite warnings from French firms that it would create repercussions for their business in Turkey, a fast-growing market which imported 4.7 billion euros' worth of French goods in 2005.

"There are no real threats in current trade, though perhaps (there could be) with some big contracts," a French Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters at a regular briefing in Paris.

The bill still needs approval from the upper house, the Senate, and President Jacques Chirac to take effect.

Hundreds of French firms such as Renault and Carrefour have large investments in Turkey, employing thousands of Turkish workers. This week Turkish consumer groups and some trade unions called for boycotts of French products.

The Turkish Consumers Union called on its members to begin boycotting French products, starting on Friday with energy group Total.

"The boycott will continue increasingly until the law on the so-called Armenian genocide is annulled," the union's chairman Bulent Deniz said in a press release.

But economists questioned the effectiveness of a boycott on France, which is one of biggest economies in the world, as Turkey accounts for only 1.3 percent of France's exports.

Past Turkish boycott calls against other countries had an effect only for a short time.

Big Turkish business have largely opposed a boycott and Economy Minister Ali Babacan said on Thursday the government would not encourage it either. Reuters