French MP Who Attended Azerbaijan’s ‘Victory’ Dinner Joins Delegation to Yerevan

Officially visiting Yerevan, a delegation led by French National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet includes MP Anne Genevet, who faces criticism from Armenian communities and pro-Armenian politicians in France for her connections with Azerbaijan. This was reported by Hetq.

Genevet is an MP representing the 11th constituency of France, which includes French citizens living abroad in 49 countries, including Armenia.

Genevet's visit to Yerevan, planned for November 13-17, 2021, was canceled due to a scandal. Just days before her trip, on November 9, when Armenia was mourning the loss of its soldiers from the 44-day war, the Azerbaijani embassy in Paris hosted a dinner-debate for French politicians and businessmen to commemorate the “first anniversary of the liberation of Karabakh.” Posts on the embassy's Facebook page featured hashtags like “Victory Day” and “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.”

The dinner titled “Karabakh at the Time of Peace: Hopes and Challenges. What Role for France?” included Anne Genevet. She later posted a photo on Twitter alongside the Azerbaijani ambassador to France, stating that France should advocate for peace and that parliamentary diplomacy can contribute to this goal.

Genevet’s comments attracted serious public backlash, leading her to announce on November 11, 2021, her decision to postpone her trip. She released the following message: “As an MP representing French citizens living abroad in the 11th constituency, which includes 49 countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, I am regularly called to facilitate bilateral communications, hoping that I can create an opportunity for multilateral discussions among all interested parties from Armenia and Azerbaijan… On Tuesday, November 9, I participated in a dinner-debate at the invitation of the Azerbaijani embassy with members from various political groups of the National Assembly. This dinner, titled “Karabakh at the Time of Peace: Hopes and Challenges,” was misperceived in Armenia within our French community and the Armenian political and institutional circles. I deeply regret this situation; I did not commemorate any anniversary.

While maintaining relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, I wish to participate at a parliamentary level in the dialogue and peacebuilding process for the sake of peace. I had planned to visit Armenia with a delegation of French parliamentarians from November 13-17 to better understand the situation and discuss it directly with local authorities and the Armenian community. Until now, I have not been to Azerbaijan.

My role as a parliamentarian is not to take sides but to understand the situation and build bridges. As such, it is certainly important for me to be able to travel to these countries and meet with French communities and local authorities.”

One year after this incident, in June 2022, Anne Genevet acknowledged her mistake in accepting the invitation from Azerbaijan on a day that was painful for Armenians and apologized for offending the Armenian people during an interview with “Le Courrier d'Erevan.”

Hetq sought clarification from the Armenian National Assembly on how Anne Genevet was included in the delegation and what the Speaker of Parliament's stance is regarding the invitation extended to the MPs. The spokesperson for the Speaker of the National Assembly, Tzovinar Khachatryan, stated that they were not aware of the controversy related to Genevet's name, but evaluated the MP’s activities as generally supportive of Armenia, as she not only voted in favor of a motion in the French Parliament supporting Armenia and proposing sanctions against Azerbaijan but was also one of its authors. Today, the MP also paid tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and visited the Genocide Memorial.