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France marks first national commemoration of Armenian genocide

President Macron announced the commemoration at a meeting with representatives of the country’s large Armenian community in February.

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France is marking its first "national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide" on Wednesday, fulfilling a pledge by President Emmanuel Macron that has angered the Turkish government, reports FRANCE 24.

Macron announced the commemoration at a meeting with representatives of the country’s large Armenian community in February, honouring a promise made during his 2017 presidential campaign.

"France is, first and foremost, the country that knows how to look history in the face,” he said at the time, noting that France was among the first countries to denounce the World War I slaughter of Armenians by their Ottoman rulers.

France’s recognition of the massacre as a genocide was enshrined in law in 2001, following a lengthy struggle that has strained relations with Turkey.

Read more about this report from FRANCE 24.