Azeri, French leaders hold talks in Paris
By Sara Rajabova, AzerNews Staff Writer
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks with his French counterpart Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday, Azerbaijan's state news agency AzerTAc reported.
President Aliyev passed along a ceremonial guard of honor that was lined up for him there.
During their meeting, the two presidents discussed cooperation between Azerbaijan and France in various fields. They stressed that these relations are successfully developing in the fields of politics, economics and culture.
Presidents Aliyev and Hollande noted the great role of French companies in Azerbaijan's economy.
The two leaders stressed the importance of French investment in Azerbaijan, saying the two countries had good prospects for cooperation in this area.
They also discussed the current state of negotiations to settle the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as steps that must be taken to reach a solution.
On the same day, President Aliyev met former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
During the meeting, they noted that relations between Azerbaijan and France were successfully developing in a variety of fields.
They expressed confidence that cooperation between the two countries would continue to expand.
Before the meetings with the incumbent and former French presidents, Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva and President Hollande attended the opening of an Islamic art exhibition halls at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
In his opening speech Hollande thanked President Aliyev and other partners for their support to the project on opening the new halls.
The French president emphasized that the project will contribute to the dialogue among civilizations, as well as to better understanding of the East and will be an opportunity to define the similarities between Europe and Islamic culture.
On Monday, President Aliyev met with top officials of a number of energy companies. Aliyev met Chairman of the Board and CEO of French utility GDF Suez, Gerard Mestrallet, French oil services group Technip's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Onshore/Offshore, Philippe Barril, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total Christophe de Margerie.
The Azerbaijani President's working visit to France began on Monday.
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