Today, President Serzh Sargsyan received participants of the Armenian-French Commission on decentralized cooperation.
The delegation comprised heads of local administration of French cities, administrative departments and regions, as well as members of the French Parliament, RA presidential press service informed NEWS.am.
Welcoming the guests, the Armenian President noted that many of the participants have already established strong ties with Armenia and have visited our country as members of different delegations on many occasions.
“Armenian-French cooperation is deep-rooted. I have stated on many occasions and am happy to repeat it now that the Armenian people have maintained strong ties with France and French culture for many years. The ties are so strong that sometimes it’s hard to differentiate the two. Charles Aznavour and Michele Legrand, Garzu and Jansem, Anri Vernoy, Anri Troyat, Alen Terzian are pillars of French culture and, naturally, indivisible part of the Armenian culture. I am happy that relations between Armenia and France get stronger and expand day by day,” the President said. He also stressed the importance of high-level visits which recently have considerably intensified and the latest among them – his state visit to France last March.
Serzh Sargsyan spoke about expansion of Armenian-French economic relations, noting that France Telecom Orange has joined the list of over 120 companies with French capital functioning in Armenia.
The President of Armenia highlighted also the importance of decentralized cooperation which has been going on now for decades.
“More than thirty partnerships have already been established – as a result sister cities and regions are implementing dozens of programs. It’s good that the conference on decentralized cooperation takes place in Yerevan. I am confident that agenda items will become priority directions for our cooperation. Decentralized cooperation complements relations between our two states, our two nations and makes it exemplary. I have no doubt that the Conference will give a new impetus to our cooperation,” underscored the President of Armenia.
Serzh Sargsyan also appreciated inter-parliamentary cooperation and those individuals who move that cooperation forward, doing gratifying job of enhancing friendship and strong relations between the two countries and two nations.
“This summer Armenia hosted members of the French Senate’s and National Assembly’s “France-Armenia” parliamentary friendship group, while National Assembly’s delegation comprised members of “France-Turkey” parliamentary friendship group as well. Together they visited Nagorno-Karabakh, where they met with the leadership of the NKR and local population. I am sure that they were able to assess the situation impartially,” the President of Armenia said and urged the participants of the Conference to visit Nagorno-Karabakh.
President Sargsyan said that he’s aware that decentralized cooperation is being conducted also with the NKR. Speaking about Azerbaijan’s counteraction, Sargsyan noted that reasons for Azerbaijan’s moves are clear – they want to leave Karabakh in obscurity, they don’t want anyone to see or hear anything about Karabakh, otherwise their entire false story collapses. According to the President, all those who visit Nagorno-Karabakh, witness success of Karabakh people, see Christian culture created by them and see people’s confidence regarding their future.
