Paris versus Baku: Karabakh Conference at the National Assembly escalates relations
A conference on the events in Karabakh is planned to be held at the French National Assembly, which has caused a sharply negative reaction in Azerbaijan. The event, announced under the title “Two years after the ethnic cleansing”, is seen in Baku as another provocative action and a continuation of the consistent anti-Azerbaijani policy by certain French circles.
According to the Azerbaijani side, the organization of such events within the French parliament demonstrates the inability of part of the European establishment to accept the new geopolitical realities in the South Caucasus that have emerged since 2020. Baku reminds that this is not an isolated case: there have been numerous instances of “twinning” of French cities with settlements in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and in 2020 the French Senate adopted a resolution calling for the recognition of the independence of the separatist formation.
The Azerbaijani position is that both the 44-day war of 2020 and the local anti-terrorist operations in September 2023 were a legitimate response to years of provocations, including shelling of Azerbaijani territories and statements by the Armenian leadership that undermined the negotiation process. These actions led to the full restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.
Against the backdrop of these events, the holding of a conference in Paris is perceived as an attempt to revive an already non-existent conflict and to support revanchist sentiments. The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that the so-called “representation” of the former separatist structure continues to operate in Paris, while its leaders are under investigation in Baku.
Thus, instead of contributing to the fragile peace process between Baku and Yerevan, the French platform is being used for actions that only exacerbate distrust and hinder the normalization of relations in the region.