An editorial by Alain Boinet

The 4 pallets of books from France arrived safely in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on Monday 22 January 2025. They contain 2,700 books of contemporary French-language literature for students, an initiative of Défis Humanitaires and its partners (1) with the support of the French Embassy.

This Monday, at the SPFA francophone centre in Yerevan, we are here with Sylvain Tesson, the patron of this initiative, Vincent Montagne, president of the Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and its director, Renaud Lefebvre, who have made it possible to collect 4000 new books free of charge from 12 publishing houses (2) on the basis of a list drawn up by level of age from 6 to 18.

Habet, Anna, Liana, Garéguine, Nelli, the teachers are here with some of the 60 students, many of them young girls like Meri, who was expelled from Artsakh with her family, and who sings us a song from her country. They are all learning French and speak it well.

We began the day by meeting representatives of two publishing houses, Antares and Newmag, as well as the Deputy Minister for Culture, Education and Sport, Daniel Danielyan, together with Xavier Richard from the embassy and David Tursz (Institut français). Partnership projects were outlined with Vincent Montagne and Renaud Lefebvre from the SNE, including the idea of Armenia taking part in the Paris Book Festival.

Together with the French ambassador, Olivier Decottignies, our delegation paid their respects at the memorial to the genocide perpetrated by the Young Turk government in 1915 and 1916, during which 1.5 million Armenians perished. Vincent Montagne laid a wreath on behalf of the SNE, and we placed white carnations in front of the flame which, day and night, serves as a reminder of their martyrdom.

We then went to Yerablur cemetery, on the heights of Yerevan, where soldiers and volunteers, including students, killed during Azerbaijan’s 44-day war against Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, are buried. Flags fly everywhere, as they do on Maïdan Square in Kiev in Ukraine, and on each grave we can see the face of each of the victims, most of them young people aged 18 to 20.

It was a day full of emotion, history and solidarity.

The next day, on our way to Goris, we stopped at the Vedi dam. This huge reservoir, the largest built since the Soviet period, was built in partnership with the Republic of Armenia thanks to a loan and expertise from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and a grant from the European Union.

Olivier Decottignies is very proud of this project presented to us by Audrey from AFD. The Vedi reservoir will irrigate 3,000 hectares of farmland in the Ararat and Armavir plains, making the country and its people more self-sufficient and food sovereign. In front of us, immaculate Mount Ararat rises from the plain, splendid and snow-capped, at 5,165 metres.

The mountain road in this region of the Southern Caucasus is a long one, leading over snowy passes to the sub-prefecture of Goris, the last large town before the Azeri military positions.

We are warmly welcomed by Carmen, director of the SPFA French-speaking centre, which caters for 120 French-speaking pupils throughout the year. A group of women from Artsakh are waiting for us, bearing witness to the suffering of exile and hope. Here, they use sewing machines to make pretty handicrafts with floral motifs, enabling them to get together and provide for their families. Listening to them, I realise just how battered, courageous and enterprising these women are.

It’s also a good time to meet the French pupils and open a parcel we’ve brought along containing books donated by publishers at the request of Vincent Montagne (SNE), with the support of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, which is heavily involved in this province of Syunik. Among these books, there is ‘Céleste ma planète’ by Thimothée Fombelle, ‘Le Journal d’Aura’ by Marie Deplechin and ‘La panthères des neiges’ by Sylvain Tesson, who talks to these young girls who are both sad and happy.

I came here to Goris a year ago, and that’s when the Humanitarian Challenges project was born – to come back with these books. Although the classic authors are well known, contemporary authors were absent from the library. This is now the case in Goris, as it will soon be in the 76 establishments and libraries selected throughout Armenia’s 11 provinces.

At dawn, while it was still dark, we set off with Sylvain Tesson, photographer Antoine Agoudjian and Alix Montagne for Kornidzor, where we met up with Rasmik, a farmer looking after his 6 cows. On the terrace, as day breaks and the cold penetrates us, he points out an Azeri military position 200 metres away! The front line is in front of his house, where his 5 sons live with their wives and children. The village is home to displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsak. Rasmik has decided to stay on his farm. To stay is to resist. His whole life is there, so why run away? A lesson in courageous humanity rooted in a harsh and rugged life.

On the way back, we stopped off in the village of Verischen, with its 2,200 inhabitants, including 35 families displaced from Artsakh, a total of 120 people. We visit a displaced family for whom a house has been rehabilitated by the Fonds Arménien de France with David and Chadounts, its local manager. At the town hall, we meet Artak, the mayor. One of his main problems is water, both for drinking and for farming. In 2021, the Azeris took control of the Black Lake upstream, as well as over 1,500 hectares of land. There are 17 water catchments, many of which need to be rehabilitated. This is a project to which Défis Humanitaires can contribute in addition to its books. When asked about the danger, Artak replies calmly, ‘We’re used to the threat. We are worried, but we don’t cry’. Living with them is their raison d’être.

We set off again for Yerevan, reflecting on what we have seen and understood on these roads of solidarity. As Jean-François Deniau said, ‘There is no hope in the silence of others’. We must break the silence, the abandonment, the indifference.

In humanitarian terms, Armenia can be described as an almost forgotten crisis. In September 2023, it hosted more than 100,000 displaced persons driven out of Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, i.e. 3% of the Armenian population, yet it largely escaped the attention of the media and many European countries. Armenia has powerful hostile neighbours, including Azerbaijan, which threatens it and has massive military superiority. Finally, the country is situated on the new geopolitical axis that runs from Ukraine through Moldavia and Georgia to Armenia. It is now on the front line of the new East-West confrontation.

Lastly, the very existence of ethnic and/or national minorities is threatened throughout the world, and this is the case for Armenia and the Armenians, who are a part of humanity with the right to live free and independent lives.

Défis Humanitaires will continue its action, for which the support of your donation will be invaluable.

Thank you for your support.

Alain Boinet.

 

To read Sylvain Tesson’s report in Le Figaro Magazine, click here.

(1) We would like to thank Sylvain Tesson, writer and patron of this operation, Vincent Montagne, President of the Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and its Director, Renaud Lefebvre, along with the entire SNE team, Antoine Agoudjian, photographer, Alix Montagne, Olivier Decottignies, French Ambassador to Armenia, as well as Xavier Richard and Dominique Vaysse. We would also like to thank the SPFA French-speaking centres, which welcome 350 students in their nine centres, with Janik Manissian, Hélène Ohandjanian, Habetnak Khachatryan, Anna Harutyuryan, Carmen Apunts and their teams. Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Défis Humanitaires committee of experts and its donors.

(2) List of publishing houses that we would like to thank for donating 2700 selected books: Albin Michel, Dargaud, Edition des Equateurs, Flammarion, Fleurus, Gallimard, Glénat, Hachette, La Martinière, L’Ecole des Loisirs, Seuil Jeunesse, Editions Paralèlles.

 

Alain Boinet is President of the association Défis Humanitaires, which publishes the online magazine www.defishumanitaires.com. He is the founder of the humanitarian association Solidarités International, of which he was Managing Director for 35 years. He is also a member of the Groupe de Concertation Humanitaire at the Centre de Crise et de Soutien of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and of the Board of Directors of Solidarités International, the Partenariat Français pour l’Eau (PFE), the Véolia Foundation and the Think Tank (re)sources. He continues to travel to the field (Northeast Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh and Armenia) and to speak out in the media.

 

 

I invite you to read these interviews and articles published in the edition :

• • Humanitarian aid: the challenge of funding and principles. Interview with Pauline Chetcuti, President of VOICE & Maria Groenewald, Director of VOICE.
  • 2023 figures for Official Development Assistance and humanitarian aid. An article by Cyprien Fabre.
  • Cyclone Chido in Mayotte: climatic disaster… humanitarian aid put to the test… An article by Pierre Brunet