An official opening ceremony of the Azerbaijani Village was organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the Place Joffre square close to Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Azerbaijan's first lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva attended the event.

The event participants also included well-known public and political figures of France.

The host of the event said the Azerbaijani Village aroused great interest in France.

Rachida Dati, Mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris where the Azerbaijani Village opened, praised the opening of the village in the district, expressing her hope it will help people of France learn more about Azerbaijan. She hailed Azerbaijan's achievements in “excellently” hosting a number of prestigious international events, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation's contributions to the development of relations between the two countries, and described Azerbaijan as “a modern country with an ancient history”.

President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva made a speech at the event.

She warmly welcomed the event participants and thanked them for their participation in the opening of the Azerbaijani Village.

She noted that this project has already been successfully implemented for three years in Paris and contributed to “the strengthening of friendly relations between the two countries and our peoples' better knowing each other”.

Mehriban Aliyeva expressed her gratitude to the Mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris Rachida Dati and all employees of the Mayor's Office for their contribution to the opening of this village.

The first lady noted that Azerbaijan, whose independence history spanned 25 years, has made great strides over this period. She described Azerbaijan as the regional leader. "All large-scale projects which are carried out in the South Caucasus involve and in most cases are initiated by Azerbaijan."

She as well hailed multiculturalism and tolerance in Azerbaijan, saying representatives of different religions, nationalities and cultures have always lived in peace and as one family in the country.

The first lady also paid tribute to victims of terror attacks in France.

She also hailed French-Azerbaijani cooperation and bilateral relations in economic and cultural areas.

Mehriban Aliyeva praised France's role in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.