Mr. and Mrs. Karapet Avetisian of Gyumri, Armenia, had a their first child, a baby boy, several days ago.
They named him Sarkozy Avetisian in honor of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Why?
As a thank-you to the French Senate for approving the Armenian genocide bill on January 23. The bill “criminalizes the assertion that the World War I slaughter of ethnic Armenians in Ottoman-era Turkey was not an act of genocide.”
Avetisian said:
We were going to give him the name of his grandfather but, after the French Senate passed this law in spite of the Turks’ threats, we decided to baptise him in honour of the French president.
Sarkozy is expected to sign the bill into law within the next week or two.
[Believe it or not, this isn’t the first (or even the second!) French president-inspired Armenian baby name. In 2001, the year France officially recognized the Armenian killings as genocide in the first place, Armenian twins were named Jacques and Chirac after then-President Jacques Chirac.]
Sources:
- A Baby Sarkozy Is Born in Armenia
- Armenian couple name baby Sarkozy as genocide bill row rumbles on
- Armenian Couple Names Newborn After French President
Image: EPP Summit 14 December 2006 by European People’s Party under CC BY 2.0.
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