PARIS — On Thursday, September 15, one thousand people gathered in Paris next to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest strongly against the premeditated aggression by Azerbaijan on the sovereign territory of Armenia. Among the slogans uttered by the demonstrators we could hear: “Stop Aliyev! Get out of Armenia!” and “Panturkism = fascism.”
Around twenty political personalities came to support the Armenian struggle, including Gabriel Attal, former Spokesman of the French government and today Minister of Public Action and Accounts.
In his speech, Ara Toranian, co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), thanked France, which was almost the only power in the world to react diplomatically to the situation by referring the matter to the United Nations Security Council. He exclaimed: “Stop burying your head in the sand and give yourself the means to defend yourself!” and “If we don’t let anyone divide us, we will win,” pointing to the examples of Sardarabad in 1918 and Karabagh in the 1990s.
Joining the demonstration was Berivan Firat, spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France. With verve she said: “The struggle of the Armenians is the struggle of the oppressed peoples – it is my struggle…Today, I am Armenian…Erdogan is a danger for the Kurds, for the Armenians, for the Syriacs, but also for France, for the West, for our youth and the generations to come.”
Mourad Papazian, co-president of the CCAF, declared: “Today, Baku is attacking the Republic of Armenia, a sovereign territory recognized by the UN. It is not allowed to attack a territory recognized by the UN without receiving a response from the UN.…We fear for Armenia, its security and its people. We must find a way to ensure peace for the Armenians of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”
