Expert: France's labelling events in Karabakh as "ethnic cleansing" is far wide of the mark

Historian and lecturer at ADA University Maxim Gouin has said that the French government's use of the term “ethnic cleansing” in relation to the Armenian population of Karabakh is false and does not reflect the real situation in this Azerbaijani region in September 2023.

“Paris did not have reliable sources of information, and statements that Armenians were forced to leave the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan are lousy. There is no real, convincing evidence that Armenians who left the separatist entity after it passed under Baku’s control were threatened or forced to leave Karabakh. On the contrary, the Azerbaijani government urged them to stay before and after the anti-terrorism events, which lasted less than a day. All actions were directed against separatist forces. There was nothing that could have caused this outcome. I rely on the testimony of Armenians,” the historian said in an interview with French Kernews radio, Report informs.

Gouin also emphasised that there is a high probability that Azerbaijanis and Armenians will be able to live in an atmosphere of mutual respect and peace.

“More attention should be paid to 36,000 Armenians living in Baku and Ganja. I think that it is necessary to create an Armenian community in Azerbaijan and appoint one or more representatives of this community to responsible positions in the liberated territories. This can encourage those who remain not to leave and encourage those who have left to return. Moreover, other measures have already been taken to encourage ethnic Armenians to return, including assistance and tax preferences for farmers to become Azerbaijani citizens again. This information should be disseminated as widely as possible. Armenia should make additional efforts to put an end to hatred, which is very strong. Armenia itself completely expelled ethnic Azerbaijanis,” he noted.

The historian noted that Pashinyan lives in fear of being overthrown by extremists in his own country, most of whom have close relations with the Kremlin. He wonders how to get to the point of signing a peace agreement by surviving and remaining in power.

“As for the relations between Baku and Paris, the historian noted that currently there is a huge communication problem between them, which requires a lot of effort to solve this problem. The French side must stop listening to extremist groups that represent only themselves and are in open conflict with the Armenian government,” he said.
Gouin stressed that the crisis in relations between Baku and Paris arose due to the incorrect approach of the French government to the normalisation of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as to the situation in the South Caucasus.

“France is trying to get Armenia out of its military dependence on Russia and Iran. Some statements by French diplomats should be reconsidered before they are uttered. For example, during the visit to Armenia, the French minister for Europe and foreign affairs stated that Paris supported Yerevan and would sell weapons. It would be much more correct if she stated that France and Armenia stand for peace based on mutual respect for territorial integrity, as it was done in Prague. If she had said, ‘We are ready to sell weapons to Armenia after the peace agreement is signed for you not to depend on Russia,’ this would not shock anyone in Baku,” he said.