France to declare April 24th National Day of Commemoration of Armenian Genocide, says Macron

President Emmanuel Macron has said France will make April 24 “a national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide”, France24 reported.

Armenia and Armenians around the world mark April 24 annually as the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Speaking to the Armenian community at a dinner organized by the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organisations of France (CCAF), Macron said: “France is, first and foremost, the country that knows how to look history in the face, which was among the first to denounce the killing of the Armenian people, which in 1915 named genocide for what it was, which in 2001 after a long struggle recognised it in law”, according to France24.

France “will in the next weeks make April 24 a national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide,” he added.

The French president’s remarks honoured a campaign promise from his election in 2017.

At the event Macron also paid tribute to French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour who died in October 2018.