"France should maintain dialogue on Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation with both sides"
Caliber.Az talks to Jean-Dominique Merchet

INTERVIEWS  02 May 2023 - 15:49

Caliber.Az had an interview with French journalist and military expert Jean-Dominique Merchet.

Jean-Dominique Merchet has specialised in strategy, defence and military affairs for many years. He has worked for Libération newspaper and as an auditor for the Institut de Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale (IHEDN). Merchet has been a correspondent for L'Opinion on defence and diplomacy since 2007.

- Do you believe that the French Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Catherine Colonnais, succeeded in smoothing over the tensions in Azerbaijani-French relations during her recent visit to Baku?

- I have a feeling that she did. I hope so because if France wants to play a constructive role as an honest broker, it needs to be able to maintain a dialogue with both sides. And therefore be recognised as a credible interlocutor for Baku as well. Moderation is necessary to achieve this goal. This has not always been the case in French politics lately. We have seen it, for example, in Lebanon, where French initiatives have failed. And all the more so when it comes to relations with Russia...

- Why do you think Baku-Paris relations have not been developing very well politically over the last few years? At the same time economic and energy ties are successfully developing.

- The problem is obviously in Armenia. France is close to this country, all the more after Nikol Pashinyan came to power, sharing its democratic and liberal values. Nor can we ignore the strong political influence of the Armenian diaspora in France, which is sometimes more radical than Pashinyan himself. Add to this the Catholic right-wingers, who are committed to protecting Eastern Christians from Islam. And generally bad beliefs about Türkiye, with which Azerbaijan is associated.

Were it not for these factors, there would be nothing to prevent close cooperation between France and Azerbaijan in many areas.

- The French government officially recognises Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory. Why then do we often see Paris's one-sided attitude to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict?

- We see France's obvious sympathy towards Armenia and an equally clear indifference towards Azerbaijan. How many Frenchmen can find Azerbaijan on the map? But France is committed to international law and therefore recognises Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh.

- Who do you think has a better chance of establishing a lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia: the US, Russia, or the European Union?

- After the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is no longer a reliable mediator in my eyes. How can we trust it if its only aim is to restore imperial domination? The United States and the EU can help, but in the end, only two peoples and governments - Armenia and Azerbaijan - will be able to establish lasting peace. They will have to make concessions and give up some things, revising political narratives that have been shaped over thirty years. This will be painful for both sides. The only solution is that there is no winner or loser, as Germany and France have done since the 1950s. A compromise must always be sought.

Farah Mammadli

Caliber.Az