Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova, AzerNews Staff Writer

Resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be a priority issue at the upcoming meeting of Azerbaijan and France's presidents, a senior Azerbaijani official has said, commenting on the working visit of President Ilham Aliyev to France, which started on Monday.

Ali Hasanov, the Presidential Administration's head of social and political affairs, noted that the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh remains a priority during all visits and meetings of President Aliyev with other countries' presidents.

"France is a co-chair country of the [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group, and during the meeting with this country's president, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, as well as the situation and prospects of the conflict settlement...Azerbaijan's position and OSCE Minsk Group's activity and future steps will be discussed," Hasanov said.

On the first day of his visit 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, in Paris.

The parties exchanged views on the prospects for closer relations between Azerbaijan and GDF Suez, cooperation on developing the Absheron offshore gas field, as well as the issue of supplying the Azerbaijani population with world-standard drinking water.

Then, the Azerbaijani President met French oil services group Technip's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Onshore/Offshore, Philippe Barril.

They stressed Technip`s successful operation in Azerbaijan`s oil and gas sector, as well as the company's role in the development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea and the realization of other projects.

On the same day Aliyev met Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total Christophe de Margerie.

They discussed cooperation in tapping the Absheron and Shah Deniz gas fields and implementing pipeline projects, as well as prospects for developing bilateral relations.

On Tuesday, President Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva and French President Francois Hollande attended the opening ceremony of new exhibition halls dedicated to islamic art in the Louvre Museum in Paris, Azerbaijan's state news agency AzerTAc reported.

In his opening speech Hollande thanked President Aliyev and other partners for their support to the project on opening the new halls.

"I would like to express my deep gratitude to those who have showed goodwill at the right time, especially to the President of the Azerbaijan Republic and other honorary guests. They are among our numerous partners. They are friends of France. They have been very helpful in this project. I hope that this goodwill will continue in the future."

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.

The Louvre Museum is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the right bank of the Seine. Nearly 35,000 exhibits from prehistory to the 19th century are displayed over an area of 60,600 square meters.