The Armenian community of France plans on holding several events dedicated to the anniversary of the Sumgait Pogroms.

As Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France and member of the ARF-D Bureau Mourad Papazian mentioned in an interview with “Armenpress”, the Council will be hosting lectures and round-table discussions and will publish articles, in cooperation with the local presses.

“We always need to remember those tragic days and need to speak out about them. In addition, we need to highlight the actions that Azerbaijan has taken and is taking against peace,” Mourad Papazian said. The co-chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France stressed the fact that Azerbaijan is quite active in France. “The Azerbaijanis are very active. They are making serious investments for propaganda and are working at different levels. Our and their resources are incompatible, but we are able to counterinfluence with our resources, and we do it quite effectively. I must say that the Azerbaijanis don’t have a positive public image in France,” Mourad Papazian added.

On February 27, 1988, in the city of Sumgait located not far from Baku, the Azerbaijani authorities began to annihilate the Armenian population by robbing the Armenians’ properties and eliminating them. The USSR administration watched in silence as hundreds of Armenians were injured and killed during the massacres that were perpetrated for three days.