VISIT OF DELEGATION HEADED BY FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC TO ARMENIA FINISHES
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 2 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The representative delegation headed
by President of the Republic of France Jacques Chirac, having been
on a state visit in Armenia from September 29, left Yerevan in the
midday on October 1. RA President Robert Kocharian with his wife Bella
Kocharian saw off the President of France, his wife Bernadette Chirac
from the "Zvartnots" airport of the capital. RA NA Deputy Speaker Vahan
Hovhannisian, Minister of Territorial Administration Hovik Abrahamian,
Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian, other officials
participated in the ceremony of seeing off the French delegation.
At the beginning of the seeing off ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Kocharians
and Mr. and Mrs. Chiracs addreesed, with shaking hands, wishes of
succeess to members of the French and Armenian official delegations,
then they recieved the rank of the RA Armed Forces guard of honour.
The two countries’ heads and their wives bade farewell to one another
with huggings at the stairs of the French President’s plane.
J.Chirac, before entering the plane, bent and rose his hand, as a
token of farewell with friends, then crossed both hands keeping high,
as a token of the French and Armenian peoples’ friendship.
The first place in Yerevan which the French President visited on
early September 30, within the framework of his state visit, was the
Tsitsernakabert memorial complex to Armenian Genocide victims.
"Remember." Jacqeus Chirac wrote down only this one call in the
memory register of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, after
putting flowers to the memorial to Genocide victims and getting
acquainted with materials of the museum-institute. He also planted a
tree of memory, a silver glance fir tree, in the alley of memory of
the Armenian Genocide memorial complex.
Then the solemn opening ceremony of the French square in Yerevan took
place with participation of the Presidents of Armenia and France,
during what J.Chirac and R.Kocharian made long speeches symbolizing
the Armenian-French centuries-old friendship. After that they directed
to the presidential residence, where, after a private conversation
taken place here, they held a joint press conference.
Responding journalists’ question, the two countries’ Presidents touched
upon the present state of the Karabakh conflict settlement, bilateral
cooperation in the economic, educational, cultural, interparliamentary
and interregional spheres, state of the regions neighboring to Armenia,
the Armenia-European Union, Armenia-Turkey, Turkey-European Union
relations, the issue of Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Particularly, the two countries’ delegations continued discussions
of issues relating to the bilateral economic cooperation during the
working banquet organized by RA President Robert Kocharian.
R.Kocharian and J.Chirac were present at the "Charles Aznavour and His
Friends" open-air concert in the Republican square on late September
30. The national year of Armenia in France entitled "Armenia, My
Friend" started with these events.
On October 1, the last day of the French President’s visit, His
Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
received him. J.Chirac got acquainted with the exhibition of the
"Treasures of Etchmiadzin" museum of the Mother See as well.
To recap, Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister
for Transport, Infrastructures, Tourism and the Sea Dominique Perben,
Minister of Civil Service Christian Jacob, Minister of Culture
and Communication Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres were in the official
delegation staff headed by the President of France. Businessmen,
representatives of science, education, culture and sport sphere,
members of the French Armenian community, more than 45 journalists
also accompanied J.Chirac.
To recap, the President of France is the second from the UN Security
Council members and Presidents of the G8 countries who visited
Armenia. J.Chirac received R.Kocharian’s invitation to visit France
still during the visit paid to France in 2001. To recap, Armenia was
the second CIS member country after Russia where the President of
France visited.