French President Emmanuel Macron has issued the following statement, addressed to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, on the occasion of the 103rd anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

With you, we remember April 24,1915 and the murder of 600 intellectuals in Constantinople that evidenced the start of the first genocide of the 20th century. We will never forget those murdered men, women and children who perished on the road to exile, from hunger, the cold and emaciation.   

France, through Georges Clemenceau, Anatole France and Jean Jaurès, condemned the massacres of Armenian in the Ottoman Empire and accepted thousands of survivors. Together with Great Britain and Russia, France, as early as May 25,1915, described those massacres as a crime against humanity and civilization. In September 1915, the French fleet, under fire, rescued 4,000 refugees from Musa Dagh.

The memory of the Genocide and the significance of its lessons pertain to all of us. Today, on the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, I convey to you and your people my most heartfelt regards.

Mr. President, please accept the expression of my deepest respect.