ARMENIAN MEMORIAL VANDALIZED IN FRANCE AHEAD OF GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY
AP Worldstream
Apr 18, 2006
A memorial in southeast France honoring those killed in what Armenians
call a genocide by Ottoman Turks was vandalized just a week before
it was to be unveiled, Armenian organizations said.
The memorial in Lyon was scrawled with graffiti reading, “There was no
genocide,” according to the Committee for the Defense of the Armenian
Cause, and the Council of Armenian Organizations in France.
The groups expressed indignation at the incident, which occurred
Monday, and demanded tight security for the unveiling of the monument
April 24 and for other commemorations that day around France.
April 24 is when Armenian communities around the world mark the
killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. Turks
claim the number of deaths is inflated and say the victims were killed
in civil unrest.