Nicolas Aznavour, co-founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the “Aznavour Foundation”, responded to the statements made in the media today, which is presented in full below.

“In January of this year, Nikola Aznavour, co-founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the “Aznavour Foundation”, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan regarding the discussions over the name of Charles Aznavour at “Zvartnots” Airport.

“Responding to the public debate in the media on the change or replenishment of the airport’s name since 2018, as well as the statement issued by the Public Council, we consider it necessary to express the position of the Nikola Aznavour and the Foundation on the issue. It should be noted that at the beginning of the year, in a letter to Mr. Pashinyan, Nikola Aznavour did not apply for a change of name of the airport, but responded to the initiative that had already been launched.

The letter particularly mentions:

“In 2018, when my father passed away, we were informed that a big campaign for renaming had started, and the “Aznavour Foundation” was receiving many letters in this regard. Our family was in mourning, and in those days we did not respond to such letters and announcements. Recently, however, we learned that a new wave of the same initiative has been launched since 11 January. In the media and on social media, the proposal is hotly debated and put to a vote to find out the public’s attitude towards the issue. Examining the media publications, discussions and other statements on the issue, it became clear to us that people have a very positive attitude towards the name change, but they also have sympathy and great connection with the name “Zvartnots”. That’s why we think that the best option could be to call the airport “Zvartnots International Airport after Charles Aznavour.” There are many examples of such naming in the world, namely Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Pushkin International Airport in Sheremetyevo, Rome–Fiumicino International Airport “Leonardo da Vinci”, Frederico de Gaulleo de Gaupen Airport in Warsaw, Rio de Janeiro in Warsaw. Lisbon Airport, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport, etc.

I am aware that the Government needs the consent of family members and copyright holders for the nominations. With this letter, I would like to express our readiness and support to the initiative to add the name of Charles Aznavour to the name of “Zvartnots” Airport. We are confident that the new name will bring even greater international interest to Armenia, helping to advance Armenia in the world,” the letter reads.

The “Aznavour Foundation” considers it important to highlight the fact that Mr. Nikola Aznavour did not call for renaming the airport, but expressed the family’s positive position on the issue. The Aznavour family expresses public opinion and wants to emphasize that the best solution to such an issue would be to combine the old name with the new one, following the international experience.”