Nalbandian: Holding of the summit of the International Organization of Francophonie in Armenia speaks about the effectiveness of the foreign policy of Yerevan

ArmInfo. Armenia attaches great  importance to the Summit of the International Organization of  Francophonie, which will be held in autumn 2018 in Yerevan and is the  largest event to be held in the territory of independent Armenia.  Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated this in an  interview with Nouvelle d'Armeni.

According to him, representatives of almost half of the states of the  world will attend the event. "Armenia is preparing to this event for  a year", the Minister explained, adding that in coming days the  Preparatory group of the Secretariat of the International  Organization of La Francophonie will visit Armenia. He also noted  that in coming months the agenda of the summit will be ready as well,  its logo and other documents.  The agenda will include the issues of  stable development, innovations, and cultural legacy.  Before the  summit in Yerevan in autumn 2017, Armenia will head the chairmanship  of the foreign ministers organizations, and from next autumn will  chair the entire organization, which includes 84 member countries and  observers for a period of 2 years.

Nalbandian already  today outlined the priorities Armenian   chairmanship in the Organization, stressing that these will be issues  of protection of human rights, democracy, cultural heritage, equality  of nations.

He also outlined the prospects for holding the summit for Armenia,  stressing that thereby the country will become more recognizable for  the whole world with all the coming positive effects. According to  him, the fact that it was Armenia that had the honor to lead this  prestigious organization for a period of 2 years shows that the  foreign policy pursued by the republic has given results and the  country has become an important and reliable partner for the world  community. By the way, during the chairmanship of Armenia OIF will  celebrate its 50th anniversary. At the same time, the Minister   stressed that the holding of the OIF summit in Armenia is based on  the interests not only of Armenia, but also of the organization  itself, since this large-scale event takes place in a region where it  is not very widely represented. "Holding the summit in Armenia will  create an opportunity to get acquainted with the values and  activities of the organization for the whole region," the head of the  foreign policy department explained.

Nalbandian also recalled that the OIF is a loyal partner for Armenia  in all spheres, which witness numerous statements of the organization  on Karabakh settlement, which underscore the impossibility of a  military solution of the problem and speaks of the peaceful efforts  of the OSCE Minsk Group. "I want to remind you that during the April  war at Karabakh conflict zone, the secretariat of the OIF also issued  a statement on the unacceptability of a military solution to the  conflict," he said, recalling that on the eve of the 100th  anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey OIF General  Secretary first in the history came out with a special message in  which he expressed his solidarity to the Armenian people and  condolences to the descendants of the victims of this terrible crime. 

"Representatives of 80 member countries of the organization visited  the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex on April 24, 2015 and honored  the memory of the victims of the Genocide. And already in May, the  Minister  noted, a resolution on the prevention of genocides was  adopted at the summit of the foreign ministries of the organization  in Yerevan, "Nalbandian said, adding that the Francophonie has become  an integral part of Armenian life, more than 500 events are held  annually in the country under the aegis of the organization, the  country actively cooperates with member states in various directions.  In this context, the Minister stressed the Armenian-French relations,  which have been evolved from time immemorial. He also stressed that  Armenia highly appreciates the efforts of the Secretary General of  OIF  Michaelle Jean, in the direction of spreading the values and  ideology of the organization, which will promote to enhance the role  of the structure in ensuring peace and stability in the world.