May 10, 2019 - 16:32 AMT
France pledges to continue fight for justice alongside Armenia

French President Emmanuel Macron has sent a letter to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian pledging to continue fighting alongside Armenia for justice and the truth.

Macron confirmed that France will every year mark the Armenian Genocide as a national day on April 24.

“It’s our duty before Armenia and the Armenian people, as well as the survivors and refugees who were open-heartedly welcomed in France and whose descendants forged the history of our country,” the French President said.

“We are there for you at the time of remembering, we are also there for you for Armenia's future, now that a new page of its history is being created, which should be a page of peace and prosperity.”

Macron added that France and Armenia are both proud of their friendship and have confidence in the future.

France marked its first "national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide" on April 24, fulfilling a pledge by Macron.

Macron announced the commemoration at a meeting with representatives of the country’s large Armenian community in February, honoring a promise made during his 2017 presidential campaign.

"France is, first and foremost, the country that knows how to look history in the face,” he said at the time, noting that France was among the first countries to denounce the World War I slaughter of Armenians by their Ottoman rulers.