The director of Regional Studies Center praised Armenia’s foreign policy achievements in 2011.

“For the first time in the history of the country, Armenia’s diplomacy proved stronger than Turkey’s,” Richard Giragosian told a news conference in Yerevan.

“With the U.S., Russia and Europe supporting Armenia, the international community’s pressure is building against Turkey, now made responsible for the failure of Protocols with Armenia,” Giragosian said.

The expert didn’t rule out Ankara’s return to fence-mending talks. “Turkey is already paying the price for insincerity towards Armenia,” Giragosian said, citing French National Assembly’s adoption of a bill penalizing Armenian Genocide denial.

On December 22, French National Assembly passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial. The vote followed the December 7 decision by the Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly to adopt the bill introduced by MP Valerie Boyer (UMP).

The draft law envisages a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros for those who publicly deny the Armenian Genocide in France.