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Mehriban Aliyeva: France as a co-chair of the Minsk Group makes efforts to resolve Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - PHOTOSESSION

Mehriban Aliyeva: France as a co-chair of the Minsk Group makes efforts to resolve Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - <font color=red>PHOTOSESSION</font>

02 November 2012 04:21 (UTC +04:00)

Accoring to APA, First Lady of Azerbaijan, head of the Azerbaijan-France Inter-parliamentary Friendship Mehriban Aliyeva said it at a ceremony devoted to the 20th anniversary of building diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and France held at Salle Pleyel Palace of Paris.

Mehriban Aliyeva said that Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding districts which recognized as integral part of Azerbaijan by the international community for many years are under Armenian occupation. And as a result of Armenian occupation 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands more than one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs.

According to her, Azerbaijan stands for the early resolution of the conflict based on international law. Four UN Security Council resolutions have to be performed and the territorial integrity of our country must be restored. Settlement of the conflict is important in the Azerbaijani-French agenda, she said.

The first lady said that Azerbaijan and France also cooperate in the economic sphere, and in this area have a lot of mutual interests. Trade turnover between the two countries is growing from year to year and is about four billion euros. France is the second largest trade partner of Azerbaijan, and in our country today has about 30 French companies. French companies cooperate with Azerbaijan in the field of oil and gas, aerospace industry, transport and other sectors. "Itâ€™s great that the business structures of France invested in Azerbaijan and participate as partners in major projects. I am sure that newly started projects in the future will bring mutual benefits to our countriesâ€, she said.

Mehriban Aliyeva said that in recent years very effective and extensive links have been established in the humanitarian field and the French universities opened departments of the Azerbaijani language and history, hundreds of Azerbaijani students studying in higher education institutions in France. â€œLast year construction of the new French school in Baku started, and in the near future, it will be the largest French school in the region. In Paris regularly hosts concerts, meetings and exhibitions that promote Azerbaijani culture. This year in Baku opened an exhibition called "Pearl of France", in our country were more than 400 items that decorate the Louvre and Orsay museums, the Pompidou Centre, the Palace of Versailles, the French National Library, and other cultural institutions. This show has been met with great interest. Azerbaijani state participated in the creation of the Department of Islamic Art in the Louvre Museum. Heydar Aliyev participated in the restoration of the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, Strasbourg Cathedral and other historic monuments", - she said.

First Lady of Azerbaijan reported that recent days launched the new project developed by the Foundation. Within the framework of this project, Azerbaijani Days will be held in ten cities - in different regions of France. This project started with great success in the city of Reims and Champagne.

The First Lady of Azerbaijan said cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the two countries have been successful during these years. Mehriban Aliyeva said she was hopeful the French-Azerbaijani relations would develop further in future.

Delivering a speech, Chairman of the French-Caucasian Friendship Group of the French Senate, Senator Ambruaz Dupont said relations between our countries have developed significantly during these 20 years. Ambruaz Dupont said visits by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to France have opened a new page in the relations between our countries. Saying currently the French-Caucasian Friendship Group included 30 senators, A. Dupont emphasized that the activity of Mehriban Aliyeva as the head of the Azerbaijani-French Friendship Group at the Milli Majlis has been essential.

Ambruaz Dupont highly appreciated the contribution by Mehriban Aliyeva to the development of relations in the sphere of culture.

The State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeir Hajibeyov and the Colon Orchestra of France performed works by Azerbaijani and French composers under the direction of Honoured Artist Fakhraddin Kerimov.

State and government officials of France, well-known public, political and cultural figures, representative of the public attended the concert.