On January 17, acting Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who is in France on a working visit, met with Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO.

At the beginning of the meeting the acting Foreign Minister of Armenia introduced Christian Ter-Stepanyan, the newly appointed Permanent Representative of Armenia to UNESCO and Prime Minister's Personal Representative in the International Organization of La Francophonie, and expressed confidence that Ter-Stepanyan will have a significant contribution to the promotion of cooperation between the UNESCO and Armenia, as well as to implementation of joint programs and initiatives with the Organization.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan reiterated Armenia's commitment to actively engage in the activities of the Organization in line with UNESCO's main goals. In this regard, the Armenian Foreign Minister underscored the inadmissibility of unnecessary attempts to politicize the UNESCO platform, which doesn’t allow to focus on the main goals of the Organization to advance the cooperation between countries through culture and promote peace and security of the peoples.

The interlocutors exchanged views on the initiation and implementation of joint programs on preservation and restoration of the universal cultural heritage.

During the meeting, the Foreign Minister of Armenia and the UNESCO Director General also touched upon the results of the 2018 Summit of La Francophonie held in Yerevan, exchanged views on cooperation between the UNESCO and the OIF, implementation of joint programs, which, by the definition of Foreign Minister Mnatsakanyan, is one of the priorities of Armenian Presidency in the Summit of La Francophonie.