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Dear RA Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the Ministers' Committee of the International Organisation of La Francophonie Mr Nalbandian,

Dear Chairman of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (APF) Mr Frassa,

Dear participants of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to welcome you in Armenia and thank you for accepting the invitation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia to hold the Session of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie in Yerevan.

I would like to note with greatest satisfaction that the Republic of Armenia and the RA National Assembly have their weighty place in Francophonie, receiving a full member status in the International Organisation of La Francophonie and in the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie during recent years respectively in 2012 and in 2014.

As the year 2015 was a special year for Armenia, so the current year in Armenia is a special year for Francophonie.

In 2015 our country hosted the Assemblies of the Heads of the Francophonie 31st Ministerial Section and the Section of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie.for the European Region.

Today, in Yerevan the Session of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie launches. And as you know, on October 11-12 of this year, Armenia will host the Summit of La Francophonie. The holding of such international event is an additional evidence of faithfulness to Francophone values in our country which we share with the members of the Francophone family: solidarity, the peoples' legal equality, democracy, protection of human rights, cultural diversity, etc.

By happy coincidence, just today, on March 20, in the whole world the International Francophonie Day is celebrated. It is not only concluded merely by this day in Armenia, but in recent years it has been turned into two-month of Francophonie which gives us an opportunity to pay tribute to the French uniting different cultures at least for two months, once again showing off our connection to it and revealing the wealth and diversity of the French.

Dear colleagues,

About one month ago all Armenians were marking the thirtieth anniversary of Karabakh movement. In 1923 by Stalin's arbitrary decision the people of Nagorno Karabakh annexed to Azerbaijan voiced their will of living free and secure in their historical homeland to the world three decades ago.

Today, the Artsakh Republic is a de facto established state formed with the state stable democratic system, sub-structures and developing economy. However, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not regulated yet. We have repeatedly announced that it can be solved only through peaceful negotiations, on the basis of the human fundamental rights, as well as the people's right to free self-determination. It is impossible to imagine Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, where Armenophobia has become a state policy.

Artsakh Republic, not being still recognized should not be an obstacle for the execution of the rights of the people living there. To strengthen the human rights and the values concerning them is one of the priorities of Francophonie. Adhering to that and other values of Francophonie, including the peace, democracy, the Artsakh Republic continuously takes steps to develop Francophonie on the territory of Artsakh. The visits of French speaking parliamentarians representing different countries to Artsakh also promote it.

Works are going on the formation of the Young Francophone parliaments in Artsakh with the support of the Francophone Section of the RA National Assembly and the active participation of the leadership of the Artsakh parliament which will also contribute to the dissemination of the French language and linguistic and cultural diversity.

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

Once again I welcome you in the Armenian Parliament and wish you successes in your work. I hope that you will also have an opportunity to get acquainted with our ancient, but young country.

Thanks for your attention.