ArmInfo.France remembers the murder of 600 representatives of the Armenian aristocracy on April 24, 1915 in Constantinople, which became the beginning of the first genocide in the 20th century. This is stated in the message of French President Emmanuel Macron to Armenian President Armen Sargsyan.
"We will never forget those killed men, women and children whohave found their death of hunger, cold and depletionon the roads of exile," the head of the French state, quoted by the RA President's Press Office, stated in his message.
Emmanuel Macron recalled that France, in the person of Georges Clemenceau, Anatole France and Jean Jaures, condemned the massacre of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire by accepting numerous refugees. and Russia, France, on May 25, 1915, characterized those events as a crime against humanity and civilization.In September 1915, a French ship under fire was able to save 4,000 refugees from Musa Ler.
"The memory of the Genocide and the significance of its lessons concern each of us.On this day of commemoration of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and its 103-year anniversary, please accept the warmest and most friendly wishes to you and the whole Armenian people, Mr. President, "reads the statement.
It should be reminded that today, on April 24, the entire Armenian nation marks the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide committed in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. As a result of the genocide, 1.5 million people were massacred, as many people were scattered throughout the world. Thousands of Armenian manuscripts, hundreds of historical and architectural monuments were destroyed, more than 60 Armenian cities and 2.5 thousand villages were burnt. In 2015, the Armenian Apostolic Church canonized the victims of the Genocide. The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by many states. The first to recognize him in 1965 in Uruguay. Subsequently, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, as well as 45 US states followed suit. The Armenian Genocide was also recognized by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches.