YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–President of France Jacques Chirac met Thursday in Paris with Catholicos of All Armenia’s Karekin I–Radio Liberty reported.
The French president and His Holiness held a 40-minute private meeting–following which Chirac presented the "Orders of Honor" award to His Holiness and Archbishop Kyut Nacashian.
Chirac stressed the importance of the roles of the Catholicosates of the Holy Sees of Etchmiadzin and Cilicia–noting his activity in bringing closer the two catholicosates.
He expressed his appreciation to Arch. Nacashian for his service to the Armenian community of France. Chirac noted that the Armenian community of France is the biggest in Europe and "in both World Wars it shed its blood for our homeland France–and now it is giving France its talent."
"We’ll continue to assist Armenia–especially in the matter of seeking an enduring solution to the Karabakh conflict so that the faithful of Nagorno-Karabakh could pray in the 1,600 churches of Karabakh," Chirac said.