French mayor of Valence, Alain Maurice, gives unpublished archives to the Memorial Museum

Today, a French delegation consisted of about twenty representatives of several regions of France led by the mayor of Valencia Alain Maurice, assisted by Grégoire Tafankedjian, President of the COADA (Armenian Coordination of Organizations the Drôme Ardèche) and of Baba Sada Sow, project leader of  Valence city for the International Relations, will prepare the Conferences of the French-Armenian decentralized cooperation which will take place in Valencia in September 2013 in partnership with the group France constituted within the Association of the Municipalities of Armenia.

Besides, this official visit will also be an opportunity for association Cartofila Mémoire Arménienne, in association with the city of Valencia and its Mayor Alain Maurice, to put back to the director of the genocide of Tsitsernakaberd, Hayk Demonian, as well as to the Directorate of Armenian national Archives, represented by Amadouni Virabian, an exceptional collection of 200 unexploited photos, as well as an important correspondence maintained to Diyarbakir between the missions and the Consul of France on the massacres of the garrison of Ourfa, massacres committed to Mardin, narrative of life, etc. Also several exercise books of handwritten pupils telling the massacres in Armenia (1895-1896 ) and narratives of exile

French Delegation

 (1914, 1915, 1919, 1920, 1921).

Several meetings are planned between Yves Revillon, Vice-President of the Hauts-de-Seine department, Alain Maurice mayor of Valence and Ambassador of France Henri Reynaud and Christian ter Stepanian, ambassador, advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of Francophonie. Wednesday delegation will be received in audience by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan; with Hovik Abrahamyan, President of the National Assembly and the Mayor Taron Margaryan.

Jean Eckian / Paris