The recognition of the Republic of Artsakh by Paris benefits no one. Such a statement was made by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State attached to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Unilateral recognition of Artsakh by France would not be useful to anyone—neither Armenia, nor the population of Artsakh, nor France, nor the other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, nor Europe,” the official said.
According to him, such a step would not reflect the policy of the French government, Yerevan, or other partners of Paris.
It should be noted that earlier, the Senate of the French Republic had adopted a draft resolution “On the necessity of recognizing the Republic of Artsakh.”
The resolution, among other provisions, includes the following key points:
1. It proposes that the government recognize the Republic of Artsakh,
2. It condemns the attack carried out by Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey and foreign mercenaries, and demands the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from the territories occupied as a result of military operations since 27 September,
3. It demands that the government make every possible effort to resume the negotiation process within the framework of the Minsk Group co-chairmanship, which would ensure the restoration of the borders established in 1994, the security of the Armenian population and the return of displaced persons, as well as protect the Armenian cultural and religious heritage.
4. The resolution, recalling the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, Baku and Maragha perpetrated by the Azerbaijani authorities, and referring to the reports on Azerbaijan of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), records the impossibility of the Armenian population living in Azerbaijan.
