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On July 18 the RA National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan received the delegation headed by Senator Gerard Collomb, Mayor of the city of Lyon in France.

The RA NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan highly appreciated the current level of the Armenian-French political dialogue. He considered necessary the activation of direct ties, inter-community, inter-regional cooperation between the local self-government bodies of Armenia and France, and in that context the development of cooperation between Yerevan and Lyon, stressing that the contribution of the city of Lyon was big to the Armenian-French relations, as well as to the development of the decentralized cooperation. He also highlighted the role of Lyon in organizing the Armenian-French Decentralized Cooperation Forum, which was held in Yerevan in 2010, where about 3 dozens of representatives from the French local self-government bodies took part. Hovik Abrahamyan thanked the authorities of France for the warm attitude towards the French-Armenian community.

Expressing his gratitude for the reception the Mayor of Lyon Gerard Collomb noted that the goal of the visit was to further reinforce Lyon-Yerevan interaction. In his word, the relations between Armenia and France are old and warm, and they have stemmed since 1915, when Armenian Genocide survivors settled in the surroundings of Lyon. From that time on the authorities of Lyon show great interest towards Armenian Cause, the culture and history of the Armenian people. Mr. Collomb submitted to the Speaker of the Parliament the concrete spheres of cooperation between the two cities.

In the course of the meeting the sides touched upon the process of the Karabakh problem settlement, the Armenian-Turkish relations, as well as inner-political issues, discussed other issues of bilateral interest, too.