The French Embassy in Ashgabat celebrated its country's National Day on Friday evening under the banner of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which are a couple of weeks left. Apparently, this theme also determined the choice of place for the gala reception - the capital's Olympia Hotel. The event marked France's commitment to sports, culture and French-Turkmen dialogue.

The French national holiday is a symbolic moment for the Republic and its citizens around the world. It commemorates each year on July 14 the storming of the Bastille in 1789, a key event of the French Revolution that marked the beginning of the struggle for freedom, equality and fraternity.

This year, public holidays in France take on special significance with the Olympic Games, which are a universal symbol of sporting excellence, cultural diversity and friendship between nations, bringing together athletes from around the world to participate in exciting and respectful competition.

The evening at the Olympia Hotel in the Turkmen capital was honored by the presence of ambassadors and representatives of international missions in Ashgabat, strategic partners, famous cultural figures, artists and other media persons; journalists from local and foreign publications, popular bloggers and many other people were also invited, one way or another involved in the multilateral and vigorous activities of the French diplomatic institution in our country.

Ambassador of France Philippe Merlin began his address to the guests with a reminder that 30 years ago, in April 1994, President of the Republic Francois Mitterrand made an official visit to Turkmenistan - the first visit of the head of the French state, as well as the head of state of a Western country, to our country.

This visit laid the foundations for bilateral relations, including a focus on culture, heritage and science, as well as the promotion of the French language among the Turkmen public. Mr. Ambassador noted that this year also marks the 30th anniversary of the French-Turkmen archaeological expedition, MAFTur. For almost a quarter of a century, French and Turkmen archaeologists have been jointly conducting archaeological excavations at the Ulug-Depe site. At the end of 2024, an exhibition dedicated to this place will be held in Ashgabat, for which a digital representation has been created, Philippe Merlin said, giving the audience the opportunity to see a fragment of it on the screen.

He also said that in 2023-2024, a multidisciplinary team of French specialists would lead archaeological and scientific expeditions in the Koytendag massif, and expressed hope for the continuation of this cooperation.

The Ambassador paid special attention to promoting the study and teaching of French in Turkmenistan, emphasizing the role of the French Institute, which has been based in Ashgabat for twenty years and provides its services to almost four hundred students studying the French language. And this year, more than 1,000 students and schoolchildren from seven cities of the country took part in the Francophonie Festival in Turkmenistan.

Philippe Merlin also noted that in September last year in Paris, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Catherine Colonna signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of education, adding that the French side is currently renewing its investments in educational cooperation and is interested in the implementation of this agreement. Mr. Ambassador listed other promising areas where French companies are ready to offer partnership to Turkmenistan: construction, including industrial facilities; telecommunications, both space and terrestrial; energy, including methane emissions cleanup and renewable energy; agriculture and the creation of a national digital cadastre; infrastructure and transport, in particular strengthening the Middle Logistics Corridor and modernizing railways; water resources management; safety.

Philippe Merlin thanked the top leadership of Turkmenistan - Chairman of the Khalk Maslakhaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov for their active commitment to relations with France.

Turning to the Olympic topic, the Ambassador said that from July 26, 2024, Paris will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and cited a number of figures: 15 thousand athletes, 32 Olympic sports (including 4 new ones: rock climbing, surfing, skateboarding, breakdancing) , 22 Paralympic sports, 3.2 billion TV viewers, 20 thousand journalists, more than 13 million tickets on sale. “At a time when war and conflict affect many countries and peoples, the Olympic and Paralympic Games remain an opportunity to come together based on the values of respect, tolerance and cooperation. The 2024 Games will be inclusive, with equal opportunities for men and women, inclusion of people with disabilities, and more environmentally friendly, with carbon emissions halved. France proudly welcomes the whole world!” the Ambassador said.

Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan Begench Gochmollayev spoke at the reception. On behalf of the government, he congratulated the French side on the national holiday and noted that relations between our countries have intensified in recent years and been enriched with new meaning.

According to the minister, France is one of the largest partners in the foreign trade turnover of Turkmenistan. Since March 2010, an intergovernmental Turkmen-French group on economic cooperation has been operating, within which the possibilities of expanding economic, financial, commercial, industrial, and scientific cooperation are being considered. An example of fruitful connections is also the long-term interaction with French companies. “The Turkmen side is ready to implement joint plans with the French side that meet common interests,” the minister assured and expressed gratitude to Ambassador Philippe Merlin and the entire team of the French embassy for their active work and contribution to Turkmen-French relations.

The official part of the reception was graced by the performance of a group of musicians under the direction of artistic director and chief conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan Resul Klychev. The ceremony participants were captivated by the fresh sound of “La Marseillaise,” written in 1792 and adopted by the French Republic as the national anthem. Created as a marching song with an energetic tempo and a bright, inspiring melody, in which the revolutionary spirit and call for freedom are “stitched”, this time it seems to have received a more refined expressiveness with notes of respect for the very historicism of the work.

It was replaced by the Turkmen anthem. Slower and calmer in contrast, its stately tempo, carrying a sense of dignity and pride, the solemn melody in a monumental style, with the relief use of traditional musical elements that reflect the national identity and cultural heritage of the country, emphasize the unity and cohesion of the people and carry high pathos of such important concepts as Motherland, loyalty, honor.

Then the French Ambassador introduced the public to performers-vocalists, stars of the Turkmen stage and very young contenders for its favor, who continued the evening with a concert that included world pop hits. And the bewitching - and especially in poetic rhythm - French speech flowed to the wonderful music, which in Turkmenistan is gaining its legion of today's schoolchildren and students, fascinated by the classical culture and literature of France, its characteristic sophistication, special aesthetics and intellectual romanticism.

The whole evening was held in this spirit at Olympia, where the guests shared the celebration of the French National Day together with the organizers of the reception - democratically, elegantly, with a taste, above all, for life. Yes, after the concert there was still a treat, and you could try purely French culinary inventions, but the main treat was the communication!

The holiday became a platform for discussing new ideas that many guests brought “in their pockets” for discussion and exchange of opinions, and some possible projects were born simply on the go, because live communication is different from correspondence on social networks and typed text, which is when people look into each other's eyes, their neural connections work not only many times faster than artificial intelligence, they really work! And in the end, they offer not hackneyed ready-made solutions, but perhaps a spontaneous option, but born of a creative spark. It was this spark that once illuminated the path of humanity.

...And again we return to the topic of the Olympic Games, the tradition of which, which existed in Ancient Greece, originated in Olympia, which was considered a sacred place by the Greeks (according to legend, the games were founded by Hercules). And France has a direct connection to their revival in a modern form at the end of the 19th century thanks to Pierre de Coubertin.

130 years ago, in June 1894, at the congress at the Sorbonne, it was decided: “Since there is no doubt about the advantages presented by the revival of the Olympic Games, both from a sporting and international point of view, let these Games be revived on principles that meet the requirements of modern life." The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also established, in which Coubertin took the position of Secretary General. It was decided to hold the Games every 4 years.

The most important factor in the success of Coubertin’s plan to hold the Games was the depth and nobility of his ideas, which earned the support of the peoples of the world. So let Paris 2024 be the successor to these ideas!

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