YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The City Council of Paris has decided to erect a statue of prominent Armenian composer Komitas in the center of Paris to commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide–as well as French Armenia’s who fell in World War I and II defending France’s independence.
Armenia’s ambassador to France E. Nalbandian was specially invited to attend the session of the city council.
"After the adoption of the Armenian genocide resolution by the parliament–the city of Paris also wants to pay homage to all Armenia’s–as well as to the French-Armenian community. This decision was made ahead of Armenian president Robert Kocharian’s planned state visit to France and opening of an exhibition on the medieval Armenian capital of Ani–scheduled for February 6," said Paris Mayor Jean Tiberri.
Expressing gratefulness to the Paris City Council–Armenia’s ambassador said that the recognition of the Armenian genocide and the decision of the Paris City Council was the manifestation of the will of the whole French people–all the layers of French society. "Komitas’s monument in the center of Paris will symbolize all the victims of the Armenian genocide," he said.
Komitas’s bronze monument–the creator of which is David Yerevantsi–will be set up in an avenue near one of the central squares of Paris–where the monumen’s of Simon Bolivar–Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaul are erected.
Turkey’s foreign ministry stated that a decision made by the Paris city council–to erect a monument linked to the 1915 events–would deal another blow to already tense relations.
The monument only indirectly marks the events since it is a statue of the Armenian priest and composer Komitas–whose real name was Soghomon Soghomonian. He died in Paris in 1935 after escaping from Armenia in 1915.
A statue 6 meters high and 2 meters wide depicting the Armenian priest and composer Komitas–is to be erected in 2002 in the French capital.