Azerbaijani Political Consensus Issues a Statement Regarding Potential French Recognition of Karabakh ‘Independence’
All Azerbaijani political parties have signed a statement regarding the consideration by the French Senate of recognising the illegal Armenian regime in Nagorno-Karabakh. ‘Azerbaijan in Focus’ presents the statement, reporting AzerTac.
Statement of political parties operating in Azerbaijan,
It is acknowledged that the French Senate is preparing to discuss a resolution today, on November 25, 2020, recommending recognition of the self-styled entity in Nagorno-Karabakh. As political parties operating in Azerbaijan, we regret to say that this action of the French Senate did not come as a surprise.
The demonstration of such a biased attitude began in the early days of the Armenian–Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but became even more pronounced during the violation of Azerbaijan’s borders in the Tovuz district and especially during and after the Second Karabakh War.
We, the political figures representing the vanguard of Azerbaijani society, most of whom have joined politics specifically to thwart attacks on our territorial integrity, have not forgotten that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was triggered by Mikhail Gorbachev’s adviser Abel Aganbegyan, who promised the Armenian Diaspora in Paris in 1987 that Nagorno-Karabakh would be separated from Azerbaijan and annexed to Armenia.
The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) terrorists, who were released from prison in France during the First Karabakh War, were known for the unparalleled atrocities they committed against Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh. We will never forget the fact that these people, whose terrorist background was beyond doubt, were sent to Armenia and then posted to Nagorno-Karabakh to fight against Azerbaijanis.
It was under the patronage of France that the Armenian community in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, gained special privileges and became a state within Lebanon. Formed from Armenians in Lebanon under the patronage of France, ASALA recruited terrorists from the Middle East and formed gangs known for their brutality against Azerbaijanis.
State visits were organised between Azerbaijan and France at the highest level, and our country, having high hopes for France, agreed to France becoming a Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in 1997.
France’s economic interests in Azerbaijan have been maximised. More than 50 French companies successfully operate in Azerbaijan, and the volume of their investments in the Azerbaijani economy exceeds $2 billion. During his visit to Paris in June 2018, President Ilham Aliyev paid special attention to the development of economic relations, held meetings with the senior executives of leading French companies and groups and signed agreements worth $2.2 billion.
The Azerbaijani state and Heydar Aliyev Foundation have implemented numerous cultural projects in France, restored monuments in the park of the Palace of Versailles in Paris, the Louvre Museum, and established the Azerbaijani Cultural Centre in Paris and the Islamic Art Department in the Louvre.
However, despite all these steps, France did not give up its pro-Armenian bias, and some French companies continued to operate illegally in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan until the final moments of the Second Karabakh War.
In 2018, many French municipalities signed friendship charters with the municipalities of the so-called regime. Although the Azerbaijani side had these charters annulled through the French courts, the Paris Mayor’s Office initiated recognition of the so-called ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’ this year.
On 30 September, French President Emmanuel Macron made inaccurate statements about the Armenian–Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the events on the frontline whilst in Riga, Latvia, and slandered our country on the basis of false information and rumours, without any evidence.
At the beginning of November, 42 well-known French figures, including writers and journalists, wrote a joint letter to President Macron urging him to “protect the Armenians of Karabakh”.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that, despite being a Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Paris would continue to unilaterally defend Armenia.
The biased steps that have been taken since the early days of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict demonstrate that France is unable to maintain its neutrality as a Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. France does not draw any distinctions between the aggressor state of Armenia and occupied Azerbaijan, defends the aggressor Armenia in a prejudiced manner, is not objective, acts on the side of the aggressor and does not carry out its mediation mission. Recent events have shown that only Russia, also a Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and Turkey, a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, are interested in a real solution to the conflict. This approach is based on the friendly and close relations between the leaders of the three countries.
Justice cannot be guaranteed in a world with double standards and differing approaches to same events. We believe that the French political elite has never adhered to the ideals of the Great French Revolution. On one hand, the ideals of brotherhood, freedom, equality, and the separation of religion from the state have been proclaimed but, in reality, colonialism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racism and Christian bigotry have always played an important role in the country’s foreign policy. Due to France’s misguided approach, the European Union is now perceived as a Christian club.
France is a country that has committed genocides in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Chad, Gabon, Cameroon, Rwanda, Djibouti, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Today, France controls 11 island states in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Caribbean, one continental territory in South America (French Guiana) and one continental territory in North America (Saint-Pierre and Miquelon). About 3 million people live in these colonies, and their nationality is compulsorily marked as French in their passports. Instead of lecturing Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh, we would advise the French authorities to take the same approach to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as they do to the principle of self-determination of these peoples, including the people of Alsace and Corsica, which they occupied for 300 years.
In addition to such double-standards, the French media have published hundreds of articles on the recent involvement of the French political elite with ethnic and economic lobbies. Since the 1980s, almost all of France’s leading politicians have been accused in this regard.
The Azerbaijani public is also aware of the fact that Emmanuel Macron has been ensnared by ethnic lobbies, specifically the Armenian lobby, and that he co-ordinates his activities with their interests. Whilst Macron spoke of the importance of protecting “Armenian religious, historical and cultural sites” in Karabakh, his silence on the deaths of 94 innocent civilians as a result of Armenian war crimes during the Second Karabakh War once again demonstrates his hypocrisy. History will show the real reasons behind Emmanuel Macron’s zeal for the Armenians.
As political parties, we declare that now is the time to take more concrete steps. If the French Senate adopts a resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, the country that explicitly supports the aggressor must be removed from Co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group, all political and economic relations with France must be reconsidered, and all cultural projects must be stopped.
New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) – Ali Ahmadov
Civil Solidarity Party – Sabir Rustamkhanli
Ana Vatan (Motherland) Party – Fazail Aghamali
Great Establishment Party – Fazil Mustafa
Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party – Gudrat Hasanguliyev
Party of Democratic Reforms – Asim Mollazade
Unity Party – Tahir Karimli
Citizen Unity Party – Sabir Hajiyev
Azerbaijan Democratic Enlightenment Party – Elshan Musayev
National Front Party – Razi Nurullayev
ReAL party – Ilgar Mammadov
Azerbaijan Hope Party – Igbal Aghazade
National Revival Movement Party – Faraj Guliyev
Azerbaijan Democratic Party – Sardar Jalaloghlu
Justice Party – Ilyas Ismayilov
Classic Popular Front Party – Mirmahmud Fattayev
Free Democrats Party – Sulhaddin Akbar
Azerbaijan Liberal Party – Avaz Temirkhan
Azerbaijan National Independence Party – Arzukhan Alizade
Aydinlar Party – Gulamhuseyn Alibayli
Republican Party of Azerbaijan – Subut Asadov
Azerbaijan Social Democratic Party – Araz Alizade
Azerbaijan Social Welfare Party – Asli Kazimova
Great Azerbaijan Party – Elshad Musayev
National Unity Party – Yunus Oghuz
AG Party – Tural Abbasli
Modern Musavat Party – Hafiz Hajiyev
Liberal Democratic Party of Azerbaijan – Fuad Aliyev
Compatriot Party of Azerbaijan – Mais Safarli
Freedom Party – Ahmad Orujov
Alliance Party for the Sake of Azerbaijan – Abutalib Samadov
Free Republican Party of Azerbaijan – Kamil Seyidov
Republican People’s Party – Badraddin Guliyev
National Solidarity Party – Alisahib Huseynov
Yeni Zaman Party – Musa Aghayev
Citizen and Development Party – Ali Aliyev
People’s Democratic Party of Azerbaijan – Rafig Turabkhan
Azerbaijan Communist Party – Haji Hajiyev and Rauf Gurbanov
National Congress Party – Ikhtiyar Shirinov
Independent People’s Party – Aflan Ibrahimov
United Azerbaijan National Unity Party – Hajibaba Azimov
National Democratic Party of Azerbaijan – Tufan Karimov
Azerbaijan Evolution Party – Teyyub Aliyev
Unity Party – Khudadat Khudiyev
Future Azerbaijan Party – Aghasif Shakiroghlu
Azerbaijan National Movement Party – Samir Jafarov
Azerbaijani Fighters Party – Aghadur Muslumov
Gorgud Party – Firudin Karimov
National Democratic Party of Cognition – Osman Afandiyev