FIRST LADY OF AZERBAIJAN MEHRIBAN ALIYEVA VISITS FRANCE
Visiting France to attend the annual gathering of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors, first lady of Azerbaijan, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, member of the Milli Majlis Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva met here April 2 with President of the French Senate Christian Poncelet. Mrs. Aliyeva told of her activities as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador noting that Azerbaijan pays special attention to cooperation with this organization.
She invited Mr. Poncelet to visit Azerbaijan.
The President of the French Senate expressed satisfaction at intensive development of political, economic and cultural cooperation between France and Azerbaijan. He especially emphasized that his country is very interested in urgent peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Mr. Poncelet also told the Goodwill Ambassador about history of the Senate.
On behalf of the Senate’s President, an official reception was arranged in honor of the first lady of Azerbaijan.
On the same day, Mehriban Aliyeva visited the exhibition of jewelries opened in Luxemburg Museum in Paris.
On April 3, first lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva attended and spoke to the annual meeting of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. She invited the Goodwill Ambassadors to participate in the final regional conference within the framework of the Education for All program, to take place in July 2008 in Azerbaijan.
She announced that in March of this year Azerbaijan ratified the Convention on Protection of Non-material Cultural Heritage, told of the work done in this field in Azerbaijan.
On the last year’s activities of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Goodwill Ambassador said they covered such spheres as education, science, culture, healthcare and environment protection.
She announced that the Foundation, in cooperation with the Washington Academy of Sciences and UNESCO, organized in Baku the first international conference entitled “Medicine and Pharmacy in Medieval Manuscripts”, noting three such manuscripts entered in the UNESCO World Memory Register are currently stored in Azerbaijan.
Mehriban Aliyeva also spoke of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s contributions to restoration of historical and religious monuments not only within but also beyond the borders of Azerbaijan citing as an example its involvement in restoration activities in Versailles near Paris.
The speech also included information about the work on preservation and propaganda of mugham as Azerbaijan’s non-material cultural heritage, and Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s project concerning ladies’ college in Pakistan.
After the meeting, first lady Mehriban Aliyeva met with UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus.
During the conversation, Mrs. Aliyeva told about the work done in Azerbaijan in recent years in the field of culture, and activities of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in this direction.
The Lithuanian President Adamkus recalled his visit to Azerbaijan noting it had deeply impressed him. He stressed the necessity to further develop cultural ties between the two countries, and invited President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva to pay a visit to Lithuania.
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