Paris officials skip separatist portrait exhibition, sparking Armenian backlash

A decision by Paris authorities to boycott the opening of an exhibition displaying portraits of detained figures from the dissolved separatist regime and convicted ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan has triggered sharp protests from the French Armenian diaspora.

Franck Papazian, co-chair of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), claimed on broadcaster CNEWS that French authorities had "yielded to pressure from Azerbaijan."

The open-air exhibition had been scheduled to launch on September 2 on the square facing Paris City Hall, but municipal officials declined to attend or endorse the ceremony.

N.Tebrizli