French lawmaker shares details about Armenian heritage on France 24 (video) April 24, 2019 - 14:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - April 24 is a day of commemoration of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. This year, for the first time, France is also officially marking the date. That decision was announced in February, much to the ire of Turkey. While Turkey acknowledges the violence that took place, it still contests the number of people murdered and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated. Jacques Marilossian, a French MP and grandchild of Armenian immigrants, joined Perspective on France 24. Marilossian says his grandparents never spoke to him about what happened, wanting to shield him from the horrors of the Armenian Genocide. "I don’t blame Turkey and the Turkish people," he told us. "We know it was the Turkish government - the CUP, we call them Young Turks - of the time and this Turkish government organised a list of massacres in 1915, notably to unite the Ottoman Empire." "At the time these things happened we called them massacres. You might not know it, but in 1919 after the war ended, there was a new Turkish government which tried all those responsible in the Young Turk government," he said, adding that those convicted were sentenced to death. "Even the Turkish government of 1919 recognised the guilt of these people in the Armenian massacres. And at that time, the word genocide did not exist," the French MP explained. Top stories The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised. The United States believes there should be an international mission to provide transparency. Partner news | Turkey extends military presence in Azerbaijan The Turkish parliament has adopted a bill submitted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend the mandate of Turkish troops. Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |