On the official website of the upper house of the French Parliament, the Senate, on the initiative of the delegation in Armenia headed by Bruno Ratayo, the chairman of the Senate’s international awareness group on Nagorno-Karabakh, the head of the “Republicans” faction, “Blocking of the Lachin Corridor. There is a fire in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and the international community has turned its eyes in another direction,” the appeal-message titled.
We present it in translation below:
“The delegation headed by Bruno Ratayo, the chairman of the group of the Senate on relations with the Christians of the East, is in Armenia from April 22 to 25 to participate in the commemoration ceremonies of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. On April 23, Luc Devinaz and the vice-president of the group, Christine Lavarde, visited the Tegh community, where, on the territory of Armenia, a deadly shootout took place on April 11.
“We have come here to demand the immediate lifting of Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor, freeing the 120,000 Armenians who are in terrible conditions in the Nagorno Karabakh enclave, and restoring the connection with Armenia. What is the point of commemorating the 1915 genocide if we turn a blind eye to the ethnic and religious cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh?” Bruno Ratayo announced during a joint press conference with the head of the community and the governor of Syunik in the Tegh community.
“We are afraid that the creation of a checkpoint by the Azerbaijani troops at the beginning of the new road to Nagorno-Karabakh, on the Hakari bridge, which is under the responsibility of the Russian game-keeping forces, maybe a prelude to some kind of large-scale operation, which will lead to the irreversible closure of the Lachin corridor,” he added.
While the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, is to visit three countries of the South Caucasus at the end of this week, the members of the Senate called on France to strongly condemn this new violation of international law. They demand the European Union to apply strict sanctions against Azerbaijan.
In this regard, the members of the Senate express regret for the double standards, condemning the European Union’s gas agreement with Azerbaijan. According to them, in the name of European values and democracy, which are being defended in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, France should defend Armenia’s sovereignty and the rights of the Armenian people with the same zeal.
To deal with this humanitarian emergency, during the meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Senate delegation emphasized the need to adopt a UN Security Council resolution with the support of France, which will be aimed at restoring free movement between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and respecting the tripartite ceasefire agreement of November 9, 2020, referring to also to the Nagorno Karabakh problem.
“It is appropriate to demand the creation of an effective inter-positional international force and the provision of funds to Armenia to respect its borders and self-defense,” concluded the president of the friendship group, Gilbert-Luc Devinaz.
