From September 17-20, 2015, the 1 st edition of the French days in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) was held, a festival aimed at promoting the richness of French language and culture with the aghiote population. A large delegation of more than 200 people, including French politicians and elected representatives, delegations of partner cities and the French-Karabagh friendship circle, invested in the consolidation of peace and dialog between peoples in the South Caucasus, visited Karabagh on that occasion. Among the highlights, an exceptional concert by singer Patrick Fiori, of Armenian and Corsica origin, who gathered over 4,000 spectators in Stepanakert on the square of the Renaissance. Again moved by this concert, he gave us an interview just after the last applause.
What are your impressions after this concert in Stepanakert?
It was a great pleasure to sing tonight in Karabagh. Here I am at home because I am on the land of my elders. I have a great deal of respect for the people who work here, who are moving forward and who are all brave in spite of the difficulties in this country, which is still suffering from war with Azerbaijan. I came 10 years ago and I understood that nobody had dropped anything, that the people wanted to stand up and make life more beautiful despite everything. I am Armenian from France, I am proud. I am glad to see that it has changed in the right direction. Really much better and it gives the heart bounce.
Do you feel that you have brought your small stone to this construction of Karabagh?
We always feel like I've brought her little stone, but I'm the little stone, and there are others who gave it to me. At that time, we carried out actions with the association of Provence-Armenia which Agopik Katchadourian led, a great gentleman who left us and to whom I wished to pay tribute this evening. It is true that at that time I was not talking about my actions because I really wanted to understand what my Armenian was and to take this road alone, far from the media. With my father of Armenian origin, who was a heavy-duty truck driver, now retired, a dozen containers were transported, 10 years ago, from France to Karabagh to help the inhabitants of that country coming out of a war with Azerbaijan. And it was not easy to accomplish this mission, but we succeeded thanks to the solidarity of the Armenians of France. We went to give these containers to the villages. They were handed over to the inhabitants. Despite some difficulties with customs, we have succeeded! We stayed almost 17 days and we went to all the villages. They were given everything: Notebooks, pens, furniture, books… And everything was new.
Yet the Republic of Karabagh is difficult to access, landlocked in the mountains, and it takes an average of 7 hours to reach here… So what prompted you to return to that republic that seems to be at the end of the world?
It is not the end of the world, there are still many people who live here and who have the intelligence to cultivate the fields, to live from their land but also to reach out to someone who comes from outside and to accept help. We all need help at some point. And it is wise to accept that help. So I would say, on the contrary, that the world continues in Karabagh.
