Geneva agreement of two “fraternal countries”
France, Armenia again slander Azerbaijan

ANALYTICS  12 October 2023 - 21:48

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), known for its long-standing practice of double standards towards Azerbaijan, has once again discredited the idea of human rights.

Several countries have recently submitted a statement to UNHRC in Geneva, the text of which lists the “crimes” of Azerbaijan against the “peace-loving” and “very unfortunate" Armenian people on the initiative of France, which is no longer just trying to play, but literally taking upon itself the role of a fierce defender of Armenia and the entire world Armenian community.

The hastily prepared paper is so false that you wonder where all experts and specialists of the originators of this slander were looking. After all, everyone knows that for external credibility, any complaint, petition, or lawsuit should include at least one more or less proven negative detail about the accused party.

It is obvious that Paris is doing its best to please Yerevan, to whitewash its authorities, actions and to present it in the right form to those offended and suffering people. There is one thing behind all this touching support - to increase tension in the region and disrupt the peace process. Paris doesn't want peace in the South Caucasus - it has other goals.

Thus, France is launching a new anti-Azerbaijani campaign, this time regarding the resettlement of Armenians from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and is denigrating Baku. Moreover, Paris contradicts itself. If it is so unpleased with the resettlement, namely, the voluntary resettlement of Karabakh Armenians closer to their fellowmen, to Armenia, or for a new life in distant countries, then why does France hinder the process of their reintegration into Azerbaijani society, repeatedly advised by Azerbaijan?

The key word in this so-called document is “refugees,” which has nothing to do with immigrants to Armenia - after all, they have passports of the Republic of Armenia. At the same time, the signatory countries forget about more than a million real refugees, Azerbaijani refugees, whom 30 years ago, literally with fire and sword, the Armenian military expelled not only from Armenia, but also from the territories of Azerbaijan it occupied.

The UNHRC did not say a word about them. Moreover, as of today, only a few thousand of the Azerbaijani refugees who severely suffered, or rather, their descendants, have returned to their homeland, while hundreds of thousands have not returned to the land of their ancestors. Moreover, the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia, their right to return there, are not mentioned in the hastily prepared UN document.

“Deep concern about the severe humanitarian and human rights crisis in Karabakh” has been expressed in the document. In this document, the UNHRC also insists on granting “refugee status” to the Armenian population who moved from Karabakh to Armenia, which is absurd. Experts in international law also state this, arguing that such demands of the Armenians, voiced by the French, are not legitimate from a legal point of view.

The recent statements made by Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Krisjanis Kariņs, during the question and answer session at the plenary session of the PACE Parliamentary Assembly are also noteworthy. In particular, his statements that “it is necessary to clarify whether the ethnic Armenians who left Karabakh are immigrants or refugees”.

After Karabakh completely passed under Azerbaijan’s control, the Armenian side used again falsifications and manipulations. It is now trying to impose on the world another tale that Azerbaijan allegedly forcibly deported “100,000” Armenians of Karabakh by using military force and violating international law.

France actively supports this myth, presenting the Armenians who voluntarily left Karabakh as persecuted refugees. That is, according to such logic, tens of thousands of Armenians who migrate abroad from Armenia every year are also refugees. Isn't it absurd?

As for the false Armenian statistics regarding “100,000 ethnic Armenians who left Karabakh” then, firstly, there were not so many people there even before the 2020 war, and secondly, among those who moved to Armenia in September-October, more than 10,000 were military personnel of the Armenian Armed Forces, who should have left that territory three years ago. Of course, Paris stubbornly keeps silent about this.

However, this is a common practice for Paris, which is notorious for its neocolonial policy against the local population and numerous crimes against other countries and peoples. It is now trying to push through in the South Caucasus under the label of “supporting Armenia’s interests”.

French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna stated in the Senate in accordance with this biased policy that France, within the UN Security Council, will demand the adoption of a resolution that will create conditions for the return of Armenians to Karabakh.

She also thinks that “these conditions must include firm guarantees for the observance of the rights of the Armenians of Karabakh, including historical and cultural ones, and that this requires a permanent international presence, while France’s goal is to achieve this”. During her recent visit to Armenia, Colonna also touched upon the Armenians’ favourite topics of the year, namely, “blockade” and “forced migrants”.

Baku responded to Colonna's provocative statements that “France is always close to Armenia”. Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada wrote on X that “this hampers peace and that this has finally torn off all masks in the context of France’s claims to the role of a neutral mediator”.

One more nuance of the recent joint statement read by Permanent Representative of France to the UN Office in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, should be also mentioned. Last month Turk eloquently spoke about Azerbaijan’s holding of anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh in September.

“I am very concerned about the consequences of the use of armed force against the civilians. It is important for Azerbaijan and Armenia to return to the peace process and work towards an agreement based on human rights. This is more relevant than ever,” Turk said, supporting the Armenian side’s false reports about alleged civilian casualties as a result of counter-terrorism measures.

Such corrupt European representatives of the Armenian lobby as Volker Turk and others like him pretended to be blind and deaf when Armenia brazenly violated all the norms and principles of international law, expelling more than 200,000 Azerbaijanis from Armenia in 1987-1991, committing ethnic cleansing in Karabakh, genocide in Khojaly, replacing Azerbaijani toponyms with Armenian ones and destroying the cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan during almost 30 years of occupation of the Azerbaijani territories.

When Azerbaijan has completely resolved the Karabakh issue, returning its ancestral territories without violating a single point of international law, pro-Armenian propagandists have no choice but to continue the slander campaign and stupidly work for the Armenian lobby which investing them.

Azerbaijani officials noticed Turk’s provocative statements. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov called on the high commissioner and other relevant UN agencies to address the issue related to the right of return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia. This is nothing more than Baku’s message, addressed to Armenia and its Western patrons, that Baku intends to resolve this legitimate issue in accordance with international law, despite the obstacles that France and other patrons of Armenia will probably put.

Caliber.Az