YEREVAN. – There are few places in the world equivalent to this memorial. You enter here full of emotion, being aware of what happened, you leave here changed. This was stated Saturday by the president of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher, after paying tribute at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on the 106th anniversary of this tragedy.
"I am not Armenian, nor am I of Armenian origin, but at this moment my heart beats like the heart of an Armenian," Larcher added.
Touching upon the recent second Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war, the speaker of the French Senate stated that even if military operations may be successful, they do not necessarily bring victory, and the Armenian Genocide Memorial teaches that.
"After 1915, many Armenians took refuge in France. We imagine how much France owes them. France recognized the Armenian Genocide 20 years ago; it happened on the initiative of [former] President Jacques Chirac. This story today makes us, the European French, never forget it. Tomorrow morning, the memory of the victims of Nazi deportations shall be commemorated in France. Together we must remember human dignity and democratic values. Long live the Republic of Armenia!," the president of the French Senate concluded his remarks.
