President of Turkey Abdullah Gül expressed his standpoint on the Constitutional Council’s decision on the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.

According to him, the Constitutional Council saved France from “disgrace” by repealing the law, Turkish website Sabah reports.

“Through the decision France won back credibility. It’s a shame to use the issue in election campaign. The Constitutional Council averted the infamy,” Gül said.

The French Constitutional Council ruled the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial adopted earlier by the Senate of France as unconstitutional. The Council justified it by the fact that the law “contradicts Article 33 of the Constitution of France and the freedom of speech”.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. If signed into law by the President, the bill would impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey reacted furiously when the Senate approved the law. Ankara halted political and military cooperation with France and was threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if the law took effect.