NEWLY-FOUNDED FRENCH-ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN ASSOCIATION OF ROUEN RECORDS FIRST POSITIVE RESULTS OF COOPERATION WITH RA MINISTRY OF DIASPORA

Noyan Tapan
Aug 18, 2009

ROUEN, AUGUST 18, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The
French-Armenian-Russian Association (F.A.R.) has functioned in the city
of Rouen, the French state of Normandie, starting from February, 2009.

As Association Chairperson Marie Ghukasian informed the Noyan Tapan
correspondent, the association gives courses on the Armenian Language a
day per week, and both Armenians and Vietnameses, Arabs, Chechens and
Russians attend the courses on the Armenian people’s dances. Besides,
the F.A.R. implements courses on the Russian and French languages as
well as on the world peoples’ dances. Students of French are mainly
Yezidis who has come to Rouen from Armenia. The courses for them are
held both in Armenian and in Russian.

According to Mrs. Ghukasian, the goal of the association is not only
preservation of the Armenian nation but also introduction of Armenia
and Armenians to the French people, otherwise, the population of Rouen
only knows Charles Aznavour from Armenians. She added that the Rouen
Mayor’s Office, besides giving territory, gave possibility to the
F.A.R. for participation in the public events and respresentation of
the association and Armenia during them. And the problem of opening
one-day Armenian school in Rouen can be solved by the association
only in the case of its having a sponsor.

The F.A.R. Chairperson expressed her gratitude to the RA Ministry
of Diaspora for the assistance in the issue of finding text-books,
exercise-books, teaching programs, also stating that the RA Ministry of
Education and Science will give necessary literature in few days. She
is sure that the cooperation of the newly-founded organization with
the RA Ministry of Diaspora will surely continue.

M. Ghukasian stated that the F.A.R. envisages to implement a program
of exchange of Armenian and French young people within the framework
of which in 2010 autumn 16 French young people will live for 10 days
in French-speaking families of Yerevan, will get acquianted with the
Armenian culture, the educational system of Armenia. In her words,
the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed readiness for assisting
this program.

The Association Chairperson found it difficult to give correct
information about the number of Armenians in Rouen, but she mentioned
that it has increased during the recent years, mainly on account of
emigrants from Armenia.