On the first year that April 24 was declared an official day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in France, the country’s prime minister, Édouard Philippe took part in a memorial event at Paris City Hall and pledged that France will work toward advancing Armenian Genocide recognition as a “crime against humanity.”
“By paying a tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims France remains committed to its values,” Philippe said during the city hall event, which was also attended by among other officials, the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.
“We strive for historic truth and reconciliation. Armenians have been killed because they were representing a national and Christian minority. Declaring today as an Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, France is going to have its contribution in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a crime against humanity and civilization,” added Philippe. “I am thinking of all our citizens of Armenian descent who do not forget their origins and history. The Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is a day of peace; it is not being commemorated to hurt another nation.”
The Paris event was among many commemorations that took place throughout France organized by the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF), during whose annual gala French President Emanuel Macron announced his decision to declare April 24 a national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in France.
Macron posted his own announcement on Twitter on Wednesday saying, “On April 24, we officially commemorate the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims, in order to remember that man is capable of doing the worst when he forgets what ties him with his neighbor, and in order to be coherent that history does not repeat its mistakes.”
The main stream media had nothing on the Genocide commemoration anywhere in the USA What we need is to set up a special committee or organization with funds for the sole purpose of maintaining public relations. ie purpose would be to continually place ads in msm All year long These ads would be in large and small newspapers, magazines. Ads on radio and tv. Billboards . Etc We need to think out of the box We can get contributors from all Armenians If each American Armenian gave $10 we would have 10 million to start off . (Based on 1 million Armenians here in the USA) Let’s get this started Anyone want to help organize We can get people in PR firms to desgn the ads or donate, if they own pr firms