ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
29 Sep 06
AGENDA OF FRENCH LEADER’S VISIT TO ARMENIA
Yerevan, 29 September: [French President] Jacques Chirac will attend
the opening of the France Square in Yerevan during his three-day
official visit to Armenia which starts today.
It is expected that Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and French
President Jacques Chirac will hold one-to-one talks that will be
followed by a joint news conference. A major concert called "Charles
Aznavour and friends" will be held in Yerevan’s central square –
Republic Square – on Saturday [30 September] evening. This event will
launch the Year of Armenia in France which will last until July 2007.
Chirac will also visit the memorial to the victims of the 1915
genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and the Holy See of
Echmiadzin where he will meet the head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. A meeting with French
nationals living and working in Yerevan will be held at the French
embassy in Yerevan.
This is the first-ever visit to Armenia by the head of the French
state. The delegation headed by him includes Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazy; Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, Tourism
and Maritime Affairs Dominique Perben; Minister of [Civil Service
and] Administrative Reform Christian Jacob; and Minister of Culture
and Communication Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres.