Dear friends, dear compatriots..

Dear representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Ter-Khachatur Poghosyan,

Mayor of Mandelier- La Napula, Honorary President of the memorial ceremony Mr. Sebastian Leroy,City Councilor, Delegate for Digital Technologies and Veterans, Mr. Pierre Rivet-Servetaz,

Mr. Eric Bertrand, Director of CCAS,

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished officials of the Republic,

Ms. Alexandra Martin, Advisor of the Alpes-Maritimes Department,

Alps-Maritime Department Advisor Mr. David Konopnicky,

The Chairman of the Armenian Union of Mandelie-La- Napula, Mrs. Caroline Ohanessyan.

The President of the Flag Bearers, Mr. Serge Donzey,

Chairman of the National Association of Armenian Fighters and Supporters, Mr. Vrej Aprahamian

Union of Armenians of Cannes.

Ladies and gentlemen, veterans and heads of formed bodies, civil and military security,

Ladies and gentlemen flag bearers,

Let me express my gratitude to all of you for your loyalty and solidarity on this day of remembrance of the victims of the genocide committed against the Armenian people from 1894 to 1923.

Who could have believed that it would take 30 years from the successive Turkish occupation governments to implement a program of extermination of the indigenous Armenians of Western Armenia, who, having lived and survived on their territory for thousands of years, created a civilization?

Who would have thought that this crime was used against the indigenous Armenian people and their state, which was de facto recognized by the allied and United Powers on January 19, 1920, and de jure on May 11, 1920, and which, during the belligerent actions of the Entente forces, fighting with them for the preservation of the values of humanity and civilization, gave more than 500,000 of their sons.

Meanwhile, it was these forces that allowed criminal Turkey to become a member of the UN without respect for international agreements and treaties, and Western Armenia should stay further away from the international community.

Who can believe that in 2020, for thousands of years, the Armenians of Artsakh located on their territory will become the so-called separatist minority of the state called Azerbaijan, which was formed in March 1920 during the pogroms in Shushi, after the pogroms of the same indigenous population on their territory?

Who would have thought in 2018, when two administrative courts, questioning the state of friendship between France and Artsakh, argued that France did not recognize the independence of Artsakh, whereas the Artsakh region, as an integral part of the recognized independent Western Armenia, had already been approved in 1920.

Would these administrative actions of France have prepared the ground for the outbreak of war by Azerbaijan, based on Soviet legislation, and thus have been brought to criminal responsibility for the crime of the Genocide of Armenians.

The National Council of Western Armenia will learn more about this issue through a lawsuit filed with the European Court of Human Rights, which will be informed soon.

Who would have thought that after 2020, which ended with the bloodshed of Armenians during the 44-day war, the purpose of which was not to allow Armenians  around the world to claim their legitimate rights to the territorial integrity of their state -Western Armenia in 2022?

On February 25, it was Ukraine’s turn to be subjected to heavy shelling by the Russian armed forces, almost eight years after the undeclared war of the Ukrainian regime against the Russian-speaking population of Donbass and Lugansk region.

So, for Western Armenia, including Artsakh, the Soviet orders operate according to double standards, but not for Ukraine.

Who would have thought that precisely because international law does not apply, the  Genocide of Armenians and other crimes against humanity will continue today. Yesterday, ISIS jihadists in Syria, Iraq, and today in Artsakh, with the support of major powers, the European Community, persecute and destroy civilians – Armenians, Yezidis, Assyro-Chaldeans and others.

To the point that the main characters today are trying to falsify international law by organizing a new war to revise the Treaty of Sevres, then with new borders that did not exist before, then with the decomposition of the Republic of Armenia in 1920, the current illegal legislation after the actual approval of the territorial occupation of Western Armenia by Turkey.

So yes, “genocide against the territory” – the luxury of mass murder continues before your eyes. The  Genocide of Armenians has never been a matter of memory or history, as some would like to assure us, it is a matter of urgency.

And, this issue is more relevant because international law is not respected in this dizzying rush, which we want to condemn, which leads to a catastrophe for the entire planet.

So, here is the reality, the truth, which is  distorted, falsified, grossly denied, constantly denied by unscrupulous people, in order to crush or disfigure the Armenian people for thousands of years, centuries, until its final destruction.

The undocumented genocide continues over time, so Hitler’s words before the invasion of Poland in 1939 will still be remembered “who remembers the extermination of Armenians today?”

This means that the reality, the truth, is subject to censorship, distortion, falsification and constant denial by unscrupulous people who claim that the Genocide of Armenians  was carried out in Anatolia, whereas it was carried out in Armenia (see the declaration of the Triple Entente of May 24). The goal, having demolished the Armenian people for centuries or made them disabled, is to finally destroy them.

Western Armenia is working against these attempts of annihilation in its daily struggle, of which I am the President.

That is why we want to pay tribute to the memory of the former Vice-Mayor of Moinsart, Mr. Andre Asher, who left us at the end of December 2021, who was the first to clarify the bill on the recognition of the Genocide of Armenians of May 13, 1998. The proposal, which, in 2001, turned into the recognition of the Genocide of Armenian people, while as a crime against humanity, this genocide is Turkish.

Indeed, without values, memory,  justice and without compensation for damage, the world will certainly dive into the darkness. And it is for these reasons that we are still together.

Mr. Mayor, I would like to congratulate you on this day of solidarity for the quality and greatness that you were able to give to this nationwide celebration on April 24.

Dear compatriots and dear friends, I want to express my respect to your brotherhood,

Long live France, long live the French people,

Long live Western Armenia, long live Artsakh, long live the Armenian people. 

Thank you!

24.04.2022

Armenag Aprahamian.

Chairman of the National Council of Western Armenia.