An appeal in support of Armenia and Artsakh by 120 prominent French cultural figures and intellectuals has been published in the authoritative magazine Le Figaro Magazine.
This was announced by the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in France.
Among those who joined the appeal are world-renowned actors Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Jean Reno, Fanny Ardant, Dany Boon, Juliette Binoche, Pierre Richard, Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin, well-known intellectuals Jacques Attali, Bernard-Henri Lévy, internationally acclaimed directors Costa-Gavras, Claude Lelouch, Michel Hazanavicius, prominent television figure Stéphane Bern and world-famous chef Alain Ducasse.
“More than a century after the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the leaders of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, the Armenian people have once again become victims of two tyrannies, for both Baku and Ankara fan the flames of hatred against Armenians, each seeking to consolidate its absolute power through new bloody spoils. The fate of the Armenians was brutally mutilated in Nagorno-Karabakh, which they call Artsakh. For more than two millennia, gentle and proud people have lived on this land, clinging firmly to their rocky and magnificent soil. These people wished to continue their existence on the land where, in the heart of impregnable mountains and in valleys cultivated with bitter sweat, their ancestors lived, building homes, schools and wondrous monasteries.” — reads the appeal.
The cultural figures and intellectuals noted that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey and Ilham Aliyev’s Azerbaijan, devoid of human dignity, launched a ferocious attack against the Armenians of Artsakh in order to crush their legitimate aspirations.
“For the Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh is first and foremost a people with its centuries-old culture, music and dance, which wishes to join the march of the world and free itself from the enclave status imposed upon it. Conversely, for the authorities of Baku and Ankara, Artsakh is merely territory where the Azerbaijani flag must fly at all costs, and to that end Turkey’s special forces, the large number of murderous drones sent from Turkey and jihadist mercenaries were deployed to destroy the civilian population in the conflict zone. It has already been proven that Azerbaijan used cluster bombs in Artsakh, which are prohibited by international law. This was a completely unequal war,” — the intellectuals stated.
The appeal states that the Armenians did not want this war, that the war was imposed upon them, and that they fought in the name of their existence. For the Azerbaijani tyranny, this war was merely a matter of nationalist ambition.
“The President of Azerbaijan clearly and unequivocally revealed his intentions when, during the first days of the large-scale military offensive against Artsakh, he declared: ‘We will drive them out like dogs.’ He repeated that same sentence after causing the expulsion of the civilian population of Artsakh, declaring that he was proud to have fulfilled his horrifying promise. In the 21st century, such hatred towards man, such an eruption of hatred, provokes profound indignation that absolutely cannot find a place in the modern world. That is why I support Armenia, I support Artsakh,” — concluded the authors of the appeal.
