The head of the Union of Armenians of Russia issued an address to French Senate speaker Jean Pierre Bel.

“Armenian communities worldwide held their breath in expectation of the debate of the bill penalizing the Armenian Genocide denial as a symbol of lawlessness. Survivors of this tragedy hope for France to help repair the injustice,” Ara Abrahamyan said in his message.

The French parliament is to debate the bill, which would see anyone in France who publicly denies the Genocide facing a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros, on Dec 22.

Turkey has piled pressure on France to drop the law ahead of the vote, with President Abdullah Gul and a Turkish delegation to Paris warning its adoption will spark a diplomatic crisis and have economic consequences.