Dictator Aliyev Takes Advantage of Indifference, Tightening His Deadly Grip on Armenian Artsakh: French Political Forces

More than sixty senators, deputies, and representatives of local authorities from France's left-wing political forces, including Patrick Kanner, the head of the Socialist group in the Senate, Élián Assassi, the president of the Communist group, Guillaume Gontar, the president of the Ecologist group, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, the deputy chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces committee, Gilbert-Luc Devin, the head of the France-Armenia friendship group, Pierre Uzulian, a member of the Communist Party and vice-president of the friendship group, Fabien Gay, the deputy chair of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, Isabelle Santiago, deputy chair of the National Assembly's National Defense and Armed Forces Committee, and MEP Sylvie Guillaume, have made a call to the French executive authority to provide practical support to Nagorno-Karabakh.

“In this turbulent period, when unrest is on the rise around the world, the Republic of Artsakh is striving not only to survive but also to embody the democratic values that we consider to be ours in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia). Meanwhile, we have initiated no steps in this regard and have not supported it in facing the attempts at ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan. In the context of every new jolt in the world news, the latest example being the Prigozhin case, the dictator of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is taking advantage of both our attention being diverted elsewhere and the guilty indifference, thus tightening his deadly grip on the Armenian territory.

Since June 15, having finally abandoned the fabricated story around the free movement through the Lachin corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, and intensifying the blockade that has been ongoing since December 12, 2022, Ilham Aliyev has placed concrete barriers, ultimately blocking communications. In present-day expanded Europe, this is a “New Berlin Wall” that is driving the 120,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh toward starvation. Should we, like our republican partners, reiterate that Baku's actions are contrary to the most fundamental principles of international law? Should we still remind that Azerbaijan is violating its own commitments and the terms of the November 2020 ceasefire every day?

Should we again emphasize that this rogue state, mocking the International Court of Justice's February 22, 2023, ruling that mandates it to restore the free movement between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh immediately, is turning itself into a pariah in the international community? And finally, should we note that the executive authority has a clear mandate to act, guided by the resolutions adopted by the Senate on November 15, 2022, and the National Assembly on November 30, 2022, which provide full freedom to initiate economic and political sanctions against the Baku regime and to provide decisive and immediate assistance to the attacked Armenians?

Current events show that France knows how to punish whom it wants and when it wants, even concerning powerful Russia. Current events demonstrate that we also know how to deploy our forces at the borders of Moldova. Failing to heed our repeated calls in favor of Nagorno-Karabakh and failing to unify our committed actions in this regard means becoming complicit with Azerbaijan.

President Emmanuel Macron announced that the resistance fighter of Armenian descent, Missak Manouchian, will enter the Pantheon of France on February 21, 2024, eighty years after his execution. We can only welcome this decision, which, in the person of Manouchian, also honors hundreds of individuals who had no citizenship in any country and were rejected, including Armenians, Jews, Spanish republicans, Italian anti-fascists, and many others, committed to serving the values of freedom, humanity, and brotherhood that constitute the Republic’s values. However, this well-deserved gratitude should not become a farce enabling Armenians to be left alone against the current authoritarian and autocratic Azerbaijani regime.

The Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh is on the brink of destruction. Nagorno-Karabakh, which represents what we claim to embody in the South Caucasus, deserves more than a careless glance. It simply deserves that its citizens' right to self-determination be exercised. It justifies France's role and actions in the region, confirms the legality of our country's actions, and the occupation established by force can in no way undermine its existence.

In his famous farewell letter to his wife, Melinee, Missak Manouchian wrote: “At the moment of my death, I declare that I have no hatred towards the German people or anyone else. Each will receive their due, in the form of punishment or reward. The German people and all other peoples will live together in peace and brotherhood after the war, which will not last long.” We ask Emmanuel Macron to impose sanctions on Ilham Aliyev and his criminal gang, without harboring hatred towards his people, so that Armenians and Azerbaijanis can finally coexist in peace and brotherhood in this South Caucasus, where they live side by side,” states the declaration from French political forces as reported by Armenpress.