French Lawmakers, Politicians Call for Karabakh’s Return to the Negotiating Table

PARIS (Armradio) — A group of French MPs, Senators and politicians have come forth with a joint statement on the recent escalation at the Nagorno Karabakh Line of Contact. The translation of the statement published by French Le Monde newspaper is provided below:

It is now six days that the South Caucasus is ablaze again. Encouraged by international indifference, Azerbaijan under the rule of Ilham Aliyev attempted to regain by force its former colony, the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. This deadly offensive was concluded by a fragile cease-fire. It must be noted that this attack brought nothing to anyone, since the balance of power and the front line remain unchanged.

The fact remains that again the people of Karabakh paid with their lives for the vengeful impulses of the despot of Baku. Civilians were deliberately targeted by shelling and murdered by commandos, children were killed in the courtyard of their school.

This new aggression carries lessons. Who would dare ask the people of Karabakh to integrate with a regime that wants their physical annihilation? For the people of Karabakh independence and the establishment of the Republic have never been an objective, but a means; the way to live in peace and security, the way to build a democratic state that respects its citizens, open to the world and looking towards the future.

Azerbaijan is in turn a rich country but Azerbaijanis are poor. For the Aliev clan, regularly cited in the lists of “Swiss leaks” and “Panama Papers,” the war against Nagorno-Karabakh remains a good way to divert the attention of his countrymen from his material and moral corruption, which impoverishes its people.

The international community, fully aware of this, must take responsibility. We propose that the Minsk Group of the OSCE develops further negotiations on the following bases that will certainly be more fruitful.

On the one hand the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh that has over twenty years proven its viability and credibility must now be recognized for Baku not to continue to use the pretext of lack of recognition for attacking civilians.

On the other hand, the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh should be readmitted to the negotiating table: the twenty-first century negotiating the fate of a people with their representatives absent is a meaningless process.

Finally, it’s necessary to impose effective measures for monitoring the cease-fire, measures already agreed by Yerevan and Stepanakert, and only Baku stubbornly refusing. In this context and considering the serious events that have just taken place, we call on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to initiate an inquiry which will establish the facts and responsibilities. It will become possible to apply a system of political and legal sanctions on warmongers, as is the case in many other regional conflicts in the world.

The signatories: François Rochebloine (UDI), MP (Loire); Guy Teissier (LR), MP (Bouches-du-Rhône), René Rouquet (PS), MP (Val-de-Marne), Nicolas Daragon (LR) Mayor of Valencia, Luke Carvounas (PS), Senator (Val François de-Marne), André Santini (IDU) deputy (Hauts-de-Seine)Michel Amiel (RDSE), Senator (Bouches-du-Rhône) Roland Blum (LR), Deputy Mayor of Marseille; Valérie Boyer (LR), MP (Bouches-du-Rhône) François Pupponi (PS), MP (Val d’Oise); Hugues Fourage (PS), MP (Vendée); Bernard Fournier (LR), Senator (Loire); Sophie Joissains (LR), Senator (Bouches-du-Rhône) Arlette Grosskost (LR), MP (Haut-Rhin); Jean-Jacques Guillet (LR), MP (Hauts-de-Seine) Christian Kert (LR), MP (Bouches-du-Rhône) Patrick Labaune (LR), MP (Drôme); Philippe Marini (LR), Honorary Senator (Oise) and Mayor of Compiègne; François-Michel Lambert (EELV), MP (Bouches-du-Rhône) Richard Mallié (LR), mayor of Bouc-Bel-Air; Emmanuel Mandon (UDI), Regional Advisor (Rhône-Alpes Auvergne); Christophe Masse (PS), general counsel (Bouches-du-Rhône) Marlene Mourier (LR), Mayor of Bourg-lès-Valence; Jacques Remiller (LR), former MP, honorary mayor of Vienna; Alain Neri (PS), Senator (Puy-de-Dôme) Rudy Salles (UDI), MP (Alpes-Maritimes)

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