While 100,000 Armenians were forced to flee Nagorno-Karabakh, solidarity is being organized in France. A convoy transporting medical equipment leaves Monday October 9 from Martigues, near Marseille, towards Yerevan.
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A convoy leaves Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône) on Monday to transport a ton of medical equipment to the Armenian capital Yerevan, 4,500 kilometers away. Armenia hosts more than 100,000 refugees, forced to flee their lands in Nagorno-Karabakh, for fear of reprisals from Azerbaijan. The country launched a military offensive on September 19 and regained control of this separatist region.
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At the wheel of this medical truck, Grégoire Minassian, a father of Armenian origin. He is the owner of a dry cleaners, which he is going to close to make this trip. The truck, parked at the back of his store, is loaded with donations: “There are around thirty wheelchairs to transport elderly and injured people. Defibrillators, dressings, syringes, it’s full “, explains the president of the Franco-Armenian association of Martigues.
“I’m going to leave my job for a cause more important than anything else.”
Grégoire Minassian, president of the Franco-Armenian association of Martiguesat franceinfo
He will spend 15 days on the road, crossing seven countries and the Black Sea to arrive in Armenia. Once arrived in Yerevan, the truck will continue its route south to go to Goris, closest to the border with Azerbaijan. “The town of Goris has 50,000 inhabitants, and today they have an influx of 80,000 to 100,000 people, including elderly people and very young children”explains Grégoire Minassian.
“We received pacifiers, bottles, diapers, we didn’t expect to have so many donations”adds her daughter Angélina. “We are stunned by what is happening, but we try to tell ourselves that if we don’t shake ourselves up, no one will do it for us.” Not all donations will find a place in the truck. But a violin and two piano keyboards have slipped between the medical mattresses, they will be on the trip to bring Armenian culture to life.