SINGER AZNAVOUR TAKES UP DIPLOMATIC POST FOR ARMENIA

Agence France Presse
Feb 13 2009
France

YEREVAN (AFP) — Singer Charles Aznavour, often dubbed the "French
Sinatra", has agreed to become ambassador to Switzerland for his
ancestral homeland Armenia, the singer told Armenian television.

"It is a great honour that Armenia proposed that I become its
ambassador… in Switzerland," he said.

"At first I had doubts… but then I thought that what is important
for Armenia should be important for us all. So I accepted the proposal
with pleasure and with joy," he said.

Born Shahnur Aznavourian in Paris to Armenian parents, the 84-year-old
singer has maintained close links with Armenia and is among the
best-known figures of France’s 400,000-strong Armenian diaspora.

After the 1988 earthquake in Armenia that killed 25,000 people,
Aznavour set up a foundation and organised a series of charity concerts
to help quake victims.

He also serves as Armenia’s permanent delegate to the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The author of over 1,000 songs, Aznavour is one of France’s most
popular singers and is the first French performer to have a recording
that went platinum in Europe. He has sold more than 100 million
records worldwide.