Actor Gérard Depardieu Visits Armenia to Take Part in Festival

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YEREVAN (Combined Sources) — On September 4, Armenian President Serge Sargisian received French actor Gérard Depardieu, who was on a visit to Armenia as a guest of the Karot (nostalgia) international festival.

According to Sargisian, Depardieu’s participation in Armenian cultural events helps the Armenian nation.

“We consider ourselves to be a nation which appreciates culture. And we think that culture makes the basis of our national identity,” said Sargisian.

For his part, Depardieu said that he knows descendents of survivors of the Armenian Genocide in France. “I am also glad to be here in Armenia. I know many Armenians residing in France, who managed to live and build their life after the Armenian Genocide due to their culture and ability to survive,” said Depardieu, naming well-known representatives of the Armenian community of France — Henri Verneuil, Jansem and Charles Aznavour.

“That’s why I happily accepted the invitation of the Armenian Cultural Development Fund. If a country has such deep traditions and interesting geography, it means that its people are tolerant, generous and rich,” concluded Depardieu.

Depardieu received the Medal of Honor of the Armenian National Assembly from National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan.

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The third Karot International Armenian Festival was held in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh.

During his visit to Armenia, Depardieu visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

“Today I visited the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and it impressed me greatly, just like other similar memorials, for example, the memorial of Yad Vashem [the museum-monument to Holocaust victims] in Israel,” said Depardieu to the Armenian journalists.

Depardieu has starred in “Mon oncle d’Amerique” (1980), “La Chevre” (1981), “Cyrano de Bergerac” (1990), “Green Card” (1990), “The Man in the Iron Mask” (1998) and P”aris, je t’aime” (2007), among many other films.

(Reports from news.am, panarmenian.net and yerevanreport.com were used to compile this story.)

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