France’s Macron signs order declaring April 24 as Armenian Genocide commemoration day
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday signed an order declaring April 24 as a day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
According to the document, a ceremony paying tribute to the Armenian Genocide victims are set to be held in Paris on this day every year. Similar events can also be held in each department at the initiative of the community heads. The French prime minister is responsible for the implementation of this decision, the order says.
The French leader unveiled his decision to observe April 24 as a national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide at an annual dinner with the Armenian community on 5 February.
“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,” Macron said.
France "will in the next weeks make April 24 a national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide," he added.