The French National Assembly has formally recognised as genocide the slaughter of more than a million Armenians living in the Ottoman empire between 1915 and 1917.

The BBC Paris correspondent says the vote arose from a parliamentary initiative, and did not have the formal backing of the government.

But Turkey, which recognises only that three-hundred thousand people died, had already warned that such a vote would sour trade and diplomatic relations.

France has the largest Armenian community in western Europe.

Correspondents say the French vote may further complicate relations between Turkey and the European Union, already strained over the EU decision to exclude it from membership while inviting other countries -- including Cyprus -- to join.