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.