France: Funeral of former President Chirac held

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - A funeral ceremony was held in the French capital Paris on Monday for former President Jacques Chirac, who died on Thursday at the age of 86.

The ceremony has seen the attendance of many heads of states -- including French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German President Frank Walter Steinmeier, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad el-Hariri and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande also attended the ceremony.

Turkey's Ambassador to France Ismail Hakki Musa represented his country at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, French far-right National Rally Party leader Marine Le Pen did not participate in the ceremony, as Chirac’s family objected to her participation.

Chirac was one of the longest serving presidents in the history of France, holding the position from 1995 until 2007.

He will mainly be remembered for opposing 2003 invasion of Iraq and introducing ban on headscarf for Muslim women in state schools in France.

*Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet in Ankara