Azerbaijan sends protest note to Paris over French Senate's Karabakh resolution
By Vafa Ismayilova
Azerbaijan has sent a note of protest to France over the adoption by the French Senate of a draft resolution on the recognition of the self-styled entity in Nagorno-Karabakh.
On November 26, French ambassador to Azerbaijan Zacharie Gross was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on this occasion, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported.
During the meeting, the ambassador received a note of protest from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry over the resolution adopted by the French Senate on November 25 entitled "On the need to recognize the ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’".
"The firm protest of Azerbaijan on the resolution, which contradicts the norms and principles of international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions of 1993 were brought to the attention of the French ambassador," the ministry said.
The French ambassador said that the position of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry will be brought to the attention of Paris.
On November 18, at the Presidium of the French Senate, a group of senators influenced by the Armenian diaspora presented a draft resolution No. 145 "On the need to recognize the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic", which was discussed and adopted on November 25.
Meanwhile, the French Foreign Ministry stated that Paris does not recognize the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh republic.
"On November 25, the Senate adopted a resolution calling for the recognition by the French authorities of the so-called 'Nagorno-Karabakh Republic'. During the debate before the vote, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State at the Foreign Ministry, recalled the position of the French government on this issue. France does not recognize the so-called ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’," said the French ministry’s statement.
To recap, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry earlier issued a statement describing the adoption of the resolution as a provocation. Presidential aide Hikmat Haiyev noted that the resolution was nothing but a piece of paper for Azerbaijan. About 50 political parties operating in the country urged an end to France’s mediation efforts as the co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group due to its biased stance on Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani parliament turned to the government urging it to appeal to the OSCE leadership over the withdrawal of France’s mandate as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.
On November 10, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered agreement to end fighting in Karabakh and work towards a comprehensive solution.
The November peace agreement ended the 30-years-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the 1990s. For nearly three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of its troops, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France had been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts resulted in no progress as Armenia refused to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions.
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