A new French law punishing denial of the "Armenian genocide" has been put on hold after politicians from across party lines opposed to the legislation demanded that its constitutionality be examined.
Turkey reacted furiously last week when the Senate approved the law which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915 to 1916 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's office brushed off angry threats of retaliation by Turkey and vowed to enforce the law within a fortnight.
However, on Tuesday two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation - from both the Senate and the lower house of parliament - said they had formally requested the constitutional council to examine the law.
"This is an atomic bomb for the Elysee [the presidential office] which didn't see it coming," Lionel Tardy, a deputy from Sarkozy’s own party, said. » | Source: Agencies | Tuesday, January 31, 2012
