PARIS – On May 18, French Armenians demonstrated in front of the National Assembly to demand the release of the Armenian soldiers held in captivity in Azerbaijan and against the violation of the territory of Armenia by Baku.
Several representatives of the French community spoke, as well as parliamentarians and French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal. The latter stressed that the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, “was the first to go on the offensive and say things clearly, which led to him being attacked by Turkish political leaders. We will continue to be on the offensive with major priorities: to uphold the integrity of Armenian territory which has suffered a new incursion in defiance of international law; to find a solution for the Armenian prisoners who are now detained in Azerbaijan in unbearable conditions,” he said. Gabriel Attal added that the use of social networks to put pressure on families “is abominable.” He concluded, “Today we want to move forward within the framework of the United Nations Security Council.”
The representatives of the Armenian community of France, Ara Toranian and Mourad Papazian, spoke out vehemently against the inclinations of the Ankara-Baku axis of Pan-Turkism, which wishes the destruction of the Armenian people. “Armenia is in danger of death,” emphasized Ara Toranian. For him, in the current situation of violation of the integrity of Armenian territory, “this is a trap set in Armenia.” “Baku and Ankara are waiting for a response from Armenia to justify an attack and put the country to fire and blood,” said the CCAF (Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France) co-president.
The French parliamentarians, Pierre Ouzoulias, Valérie Boyer, Danièle Cazarian, François Pupponi and Guy Tessier, president of the Cercle d’Amitié France-Artsakh, denounced the atrocities committed on young Armenian soldiers, as well as the “museum of shame prohibited by international conventions,” as Guy Tessier said. He called on the UN Security Council, the Minsk Group, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairmanship and the Council of Europe to demand the immediate application by Azerbaijan of international laws of war.
Among the sentences uttered were “Azerbaijan organized trafficking in organs of Armenian corpses,” “Today we need more than words,” and “Armenia is the last democratic bulwark of Europe in the region.”
