The Armenian community of Valence, France, will attend a requiem mass, on Sunday at the local Armenian church, in memory of Sergeant Armen Hovhannisyan, who heroically died in Nagorno-Karabakh, Nouvelles d’Arménie reports.   

In addition, the representatives of the Valence-Armenian community will place a wreath to the cross-stone at the churchyard. 

“We need to stand together with our young soldiers. We want to honor the memory of this young soldier. Armen Hovhannisyan’s death causes us great sorrow. With this step we wish to express our condolences to his family, friends, and comrades-in-arms,” specifically noted the members of the three Armenian associations of Valence.  

The diversionary teams of Azerbaijan had attempted to carry out two simultaneous infiltrations at the line of contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces. The attempts were recorded at around between 11:50pm on January 19 and 12:15am on January 20. As a result of the ensuing skirmish, Junior Sergeant Armen Hovhannisyan was killed. The funeral of the 19-year-old sergeant was held on January 22, and he was laid to eternal rest at Yerablur Military Pantheon of Armenian capital city Yerevan. And by the decree of President Bako Sahakyan of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), Hovhannisyan was posthumously awarded with the Bravery Medal for his for his courage while defending the NKR state border.