France followed Turkey in turning the Armenian cause into an element of its domestic policy, according to Caucasus Institute director.

“Clearly, French President supports adoption of the law criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial. However, I’m not so sure as to the decision of constitutional council,” Alexander Iskandaryan told a news conference in Yerevan.

After being approved by the National Assembly and Senate, the Armenian Genocide law was put on hold after politicians opposed to the legislation demanded that its constitutionality be examined.

Two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation - from both the Senate and the lower house - said they had formally requested the constitutional council examine the law. The groups said they each had gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required to ask the council to test the law's constitutionality. The council is obliged to deliver its judgment within a month, but this can be reduced to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.

Turkey reacted furiously last week when the Senate approved the law, which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies the 1915 Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turk forces.