On September 20th, Garo Paylan, the MP of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) paid a historic visit to the Armenian community of Alfortville, France.
Paylan who is of Armenian descent, was specifically invited by the Armenian Council of Europe (ACE) for the screening of “RED” produced and directed by Turkish political scientist Kadir Akın.
Garo Paylan began his visit by meeting the Parish Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church, chaired by Raffi Pohanian.
The priest of the parish, Der Dirayr Keledjian, then prayed for him by inviting him to stand above a receptacle, unique in a church, containing the land of various regions of Western Armenia brought by the parishioners.
The visit continued with an exciting exchange with students from the Saint-Mesrop-Arabian school group, to whom he asked for the origin of their families. He invited those who did not know how to answer, to ask their parents at home on the evening making them aware of the importance of these historic lands.
The director of the school, Agnès Minas, and the members of the Board of Directors of the Management Association, chaired by Karin Lerian also had the opportunity to talk privately with the Armenian MP.
Garo Paylan then paid tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide by laying a wreath at the feet of the Khatchkar of Alfortville.
Paylan also visited Alfortville’s Armenian Youth Center, were he met with various Armenian journalists, and was received by the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party Executive Committee of France headed by Saro Mardiryan.
Paylan joined Kadir Akin and held a private meeting with the Mayor of the City of Alfortville, Michel Gerchinovitz, the deputy of Val-de-Marne, Luc Carvounas and the co-president of the CCAF, Ara Toranian, before attending a screening of “RED” at the Alfortville Cultural Center to a full capacity crowd.
