Armenians Stage Protest In Paris With PKK Taking Part

Armenians held a demonstration in the French capital Sunday against Azerbaijan's operation to liberate its Armenian-occupied territories.

Members of the PKK terrorist organization also took part in the Paris protest, which was organized by the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF).

The demonstrators gathered in Invalides Square to protest against Azerbaijan exercising its right of self-defense against Armenia's attacks.

CCAF officials accused French President Emmanuel Macron of leaving Armenia alone and demanded that Nagorno-Karabakh be recognized as Armenian territory.

They claimed that Armenians are the most civilized nation in the region and that Armenia is the greatest protector of feminism, democracy and civilization.

Protesters shouted slogans against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and urged the international community to intervene against Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since the early 1990s, when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan.

Fresh clashes erupted on Sept. 27, and Armenia has since continued its attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, even violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

On Oct. 10, Baku and Yerevan agreed to a cease-fire starting midday to allow a prisoner exchange and the retrieval of bodies in Upper Karabakh.

But before 24 hours had passed, the Armenian army carried out a missile attack on the city of Ganja in Azerbaijan, killing 10 people and injuring 35 others.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan -