Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijan has strongly condemned the adoption by the French National Assembly of a resolution entitled "Protection of the Armenian People and Christian Communities of Europe and the East" .

"The adoption of the resolution... is another completely unjustified, unfriendly and provocative activity of the French Parliament. The adoption of a biased resolution by the lower house after the Senate is a sign of the ongoing campaign against Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its official website on December 4.

The ministry added that as the name of the resolution suggests, the National Assembly members, who have nothing to do with the reality and want to add religious overtones to the issue, try to present their pro-Armenian positions on artificial grounds.

"Azerbaijan is a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state where people of different religions and ethnicities live as one family in harmony and peace. We reject attempts to portray the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as a clash of religions and civilizations, and strongly condemn such an approach, which poses a serious threat to peace and security," the ministry added.

The ministry ruled out any legal force of the resolution and said that it run counter to all existing international documents.

"However, as in the case of the Senate, given the political meaning of the National Assembly document, we would like to emphasize that these completely wrong resolutions contradict the norms and principles of international law, the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, UN Security Council resolutions of 1993, and the existing bilateral documents between Azerbaijan and France," the ministry said.

Azerbaijan sees this step of the French parliament as a serious blow to the country's mediation mandate overshadowing bilateral relations.

"It should also be noted that the French National Assembly has never held a hearing or adopted a resolution on one million Azerbaijanis, who have been subjected to ethnic cleansing and whose fundamental human rights have been violated. This clearly shows that the French parliament takes a completely biased position," the statement added.

The ministry added that the French parliament's approach completely contradicted the provisions of the trilateral statement signed by the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders on November 10,2020, and seriously undermined efforts to ensure peace and security in the region and globally. The statement stressed that the French ambassador will be summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry over the case and Azerbaijan's strong protest will be brought to the attention of France.

Earlier, the French Senate adopted a draft resolution on the recognition of the self-styled entity in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was seriously condemned by Azerbaijan's high-ranking official circles. On November 26, Azerbaijan sent its protest note to France over the resolution adopted by the French Senate on November 25 entitled "On the need to recognize the ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic'".

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.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz