The official opening ceremony of the Honorary Consulate of Armenia in Chicago, USA, took place on Tuesday. The consulate’s region covers the US states of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, the foreign ministry reported.

Oscar Tatosyan will serve as Armenia’s Honorary Consul. The inauguration ceremony was followed by a diplomatic reception in the historic Union League Club of Chicago. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivered remarks at the event.

Remarks were also made by Armenia’s Ambassador to the US Grigor Hovhannisyan and Archbishop Khajak Parsamyan, Primate of the Western Diocese of the US of the Armenian Church. More than 400 guests, including Illinois congressmen, members of the consular corps of the city and representatives of the Armenian-American community, attended the ceremony.

Halle Butvin, Director of Special Projects of the Smithsonian Institution, also delivered remarks and presented the details of Armenia’s participation, as a special guest, in the upcoming Washington Folklife Festival.