On April 16, the official opening ceremony of a square dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and of an Armenian khachkar took place in the centre of the city of Nimes, France. This was announced by the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in France.
During the event, speeches were delivered by the Mayor of Nimes, Jean-Paul Fournier, the Ambassador of Armenia to France, Hasmik Tolmajyan, and the President of the Armenian Association of Nimes (Amicale Franco-Armenienne de Nimes et du Gard), Armen Martirosyan. Also present at the ceremony were the President of the Standing Committee on Defence and Armed Forces of the French Parliament, Françoise Dumas, and the Consul of Armenia in Marseille, Samuel Lalayan.
In her speech, the Ambassador of Armenia recalled the important role France played in providing refuge to Armenian refugees who survived the Genocide. The importance of France’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide by law in 2001, and of the inclusion of April 24 in the list of France’s official days of remembrance since 2019, was also emphasised, in the context of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the prevention of genocides.
Concluding her remarks, the Ambassador expressed gratitude to the Mayor of Nimes and the city council for approving the initiative to name the square and install the khachkar, immortalising the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
The Ambassador also expressed her appreciation to the relatively newly formed Franco-Armenian community of Nimes, represented by the city’s Armenian association and its President Armen Martirosyan, for this important initiative and for bringing it to life.
Following the speeches, the blessing ceremony of the khachkar took place, which was followed by the laying of wreaths. On the same day, Ambassador Tolmajyan met with representatives of the Franco-Armenian community of Nimes to discuss issues of concern to the community.
The Ambassador thanked the community for the more than 60,000 euros raised by the Franco-Armenians of Nimes and transferred to the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund during the war in Artsakh in 2020, emphasising that for a small Armenian community such as that of Nimes, a donation of such considerable size is an exceptional phenomenon and testifies to the community’s strong attachment and dedication to the motherland.
