Over 500 Stepanakert residents light candles in memory of Charles Aznavour

By lighting candles, Stepanakert townspeople have honoured the memory of the French chansonier Charles Aznavour. The participants in the mourning ceremony, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", called him a great artist and a real man.

Aznavour died on October 1 in his 95th year. Residents of Armenia and natives thereof write in social networks about their irreparable loss. Nikol Pashinyan, the Premier, said that mourning would be declared in Armenia on the day of Aznavour's funeral.

In the evening on October 2, in Stepanakert, more than 500 people came to the church service and lit candles in memory of Aznavour. Then they headed from the church to the Charles Aznavour Centre of Arts, where they lit candles and laid flowers to his photo.

Like Armenia, on the day of Aznavour's funeral, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) will announce the mourning, the press service of the NKR's Government has reported.

"A genius and a man of universal value has passed away," said Gayane Atanesyan, the NKR's Deputy Minister for Culture, Youth and Tourism.

She recalled that Aznavour visited Stepanakert in 2009.

"He became for us a reflection of all Armenians. His creative work mirrored both tragedies and victories, and the rich cultural heritage of the Armenian people," she said.