On September 29, three planes landed at the “Zvartnots” airport of Armenia. The planes were not too fancy-they simply had the words “Republic of France” written on them and the colors of the French national flag.
First Lady of France Bernadett Chirac and the delegation was on the first plane and they landed at the airport at 6:45 p.m. Then came the French journalists, while French President Jacques Chirac landed in Yerevan with a late arrival at 7:45p.m.
This was J. Chirac’s first visit to Armenia and that’s why it’s often referred to as a historical event. On this occasion, over the past month, many streets of Yerevan were cleaned and asphalted. The road leading to the airport was lighted and there were many people at the “Zvartnots” airport. The Armenian National Security workers were working with their French colleagues.
The French President was welcomed by the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, his head of administration, the Vice-Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia, Mayor of Yerevan Yervand Zakharyan, deputy chief police of Armenia, some “chosen” ministers. Of course, the Ambassador to France in Armenia Henry Cuni was the happiest of all.
Upon his arrival, the military band played the songs “Marseilles” and then the Armenian national anthem. The French President bowed after each song as a sign of respect. Then both presidents walked along the red carpet, greeted Armenian and French state officials, and then stood on a special platform looking out to Mount Ararat. In fact, although it was dark, Mount Ararat appeared clearly.
This was a historical event for J. Chirac too. It was the first time that he was seeing Mount Ararat up close after hearing about it so much from the Armenian community of France.
On September 30, the French President paid a visit to the Armenian Genocide memorial, participated in the opening ceremony of the square near the Opera which will be named after France and was present at the concert with Charles Aznavour and other French musicians at the Republic Square.