The city council of France's Lyon will elect new mayor on July 17, and the most likely candidacy is 68-year-old Georges Kepenekian, assistant of the incumbent mayor Gerard Collomb, RCF reported.

Kepenikian, the son of Armenian emigrants, is a surgeon-urologist. Kepenikyan first achieved success in the profession and then started to actively promote the idea of introducing culture to hospitals in Lyon. He embodied his ideas in the Hospital Center Saint-Joseph Saint-Luc, where he has been Director of Strategic Development since 2005.

In addition, he is actively engaged in promoting recognition of the Armenian Genocide and is an administrator in the Bullukian Foundation.