TODAY.AZ / Politics

Some French visitors to Karabakh committed crimes - interview to Lagazetteaz newspaper

03 February 2021 [18:27] - TODAY.AZ

By Trend


Famous French Middle East researcher Sebastien Boussois was interviewed by the French Lagazetteaz.fr online newspaper, Trend reports.

Boussois noted that Armenians, as well as some people who arrived from France, had committed many criminal acts in Karabakh, which are condemned by international law.

According to Boussois, in his article in the "Le Journal Général de l'Europe" journal he aimed to, to a certain extent, try to balance the wide discussions that were held about Azerbaijan, in particular, that supposedly Turkey and other countries supported him in the war.

“I wanted to show the big imbalance that exists in the processing of information in France because the pro-Armenian media have a fairly strong sphere of influence. All these are pointless conversations. While the Armenians, as well as some people who arrived from France, committed many criminal acts in Karabakh, condemned by international law. More than 10 French or non-French people with Armenian descent and dual citizenship, as well as on the "Fiche S" list, known as the list of persons who may commit a crime or propagandize violence and extremism, left France to join the ranks of the pro-Armenian separatist invading army. It's illegal,” said Boussois.

“In the fall of 2020, these persons left France for Yerevan to be transported to Nagorno-Karabakh and to participate in battles with Azerbaijanis. There were citizens of France, who had great sympathy for Armenia among those sent to fight in Karabakh. This is a big illegal problem because those who have joined the fighting are used to committing violence and using weapons. Will they still, as if nothing had happened, carry out illegal activities to return to French territory? That is why a preliminary investigation has already been launched against them. They were detained and interrogated at the French border after returning from Armenia. At this time, measures are being taken to clarify the criminal acts that they have already committed or may commit in the future, the facts of propaganda of terrorism by these persons are established, and the type of punishment that will be applied to these persons is being considered. I believe that since Armenia lost the war, there may be risks of revenge against Muslims in France,” he said.

Speaking about the declaration on Karabakh, signed on November 10, 2020, the French researcher noted that the signing of this document after 27 years of occupation, which led to the death of thousands of people, is a very good thing.

"Over the period, tragedies took place. So the Armenian side has turned its own civilians to a political instrument by placing them on the territory seized from Azerbaijan, which the UN hadn’t recognized as Armenian since 1994,” reminded Boussois. “In 1994, 800,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from the Karabakh lands. Here, in Baku, we met with some IDPs from the former occupied Aghdam, Zangilan, Gubadly, and other districts, who now hope to return to their lands.”

”In this situation, two factors can be observed. The first is the return to the regional conflict, the solution of which impossible with the help of the Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France, and the US. I consider it important to emphasize that Azerbaijanis liberated Karabakh. The second factor is that speaking of sustainable peace, we, along with the agreement reached on paper between Azerbaijan and Armenia, are talking about the truce,” noted the expert.

“Now the most important thing is to instill in people the concept of truce, to propagandize it in the societies of both the countries. At the meetings in Baku with the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Karimov and Azerbaijani President’s Assistant Hikmat Hajiyev, they focused on the ethnic and cultural diversity of Azerbaijan, as well as the issue of the Armenians who remained in Karabakh. In Soviet times, there were very good relations between the two nations,” he also reminded.

“Many people believe that after a certain period the good relations will be restored. Can we expect the same from Armenia? I believe that it will take a lot of time to accept the current conditions. We’ll hope that in the future, the Prime Minister of Armenia, who lives today with a revanchist feeling, or another political leader of this country, won’t cause other feelings among the population, violating the document signed in November 2020,” Boussois further pointed out.

According to him, from a practical point of view, the Azerbaijani side will need a lot of time to revive Karabakh. This will require conducting construction work, returning the population to its native territories, turning Karabakh into a place for life, tourism, and other fields.

“The next question is dynamic integration through a corridor that will be created between Karabakh and Nakhchivan. Namely the corridor, after so many years, will for the first time connect Nakhchivan with other Azerbaijani territories, without crossing the territory of Iran, and also ensure the continued participation of Azerbaijan in such a global project as the Silk Road,” noted the expert.

“This is a very important issue because namely, the corridor will play an essential role in evaluating the importance of Azerbaijan for Europe. Through it, Europeans will travel to visit Karabakh and will be interested in discovering these places for themselves. While in Morocco and Tunisia, my compatriots try to criticize Muslims. They want to say that Islam is everywhere, but they practically don’t know secular, modern, dynamic Azerbaijan, in which international architects are showing great interest," he said.

“I think that this is one of the important factors in the theme of peace, which can be grafted into other models of cooperation," the researcher added.

As for the restoration of economic and transport ties in the region, Boussois stressed that ensuring sustainable peace between the two countries is connected with the economy.

“Economic ties between Azerbaijan and Armenia must be restored,” the researcher said.

“From an economic point of view, there is a tangible imbalance between the two countries,” Boussois said. “Azerbaijan is the leading country in the Caucasus, Armenia is a poor country, an enclave that has nothing from an economic point of view. I think that this is a country that hopes for a big diaspora that can support it economically.”

“Despite Azerbaijan has turned into a regional economic force based on its oil and gas sector, at the same time, given that the oil and gas factor is not endless, it continues to diversify the country's economy, dynamically carry out important reforms in the agricultural and food sectors for the next 30 years,” the researcher said.

“It would be good if Armenia had already realized that it finally lost the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which it destroyed,” Boussois said. “So let it at least enrich its future. In this case, the peace can last. It is clear that today Azerbaijan is a country capable of breathing life into the region and turning it into a center of attention from an economic, cultural, and tourism point of view."

The French researcher stressed that from the point of view of the EU Neighborhood Policy, given that Azerbaijan is a member of the Council of Europe, as well as the fact that the Europeans did not have any obstacles in organizing the Eurovision Song Contest, it is very important to continue to maintain high-level relations between Europe and Azerbaijan, because, in terms of culture, Azerbaijan is close to Europe.

“Despite the absolute majority of Muslims living in the country, Azerbaijan is a secular, modern, tolerant and cultural country,” Boussois added. “For me, Baku is a city that does not look like Russian or Arab cities, it looks more like European cities.”

“As for the relations with France, they are really excellent,” the researcher said. “If we approach the issue not only from the position of the oil and gas sphere but from the point of view of culture, then a French lyceum, promoting the French language and France in the Caucasus, has been operating in Baku for several years. That’s why Azerbaijan is a member of the International Organization of the Francophonie.”

“French President Emmanuel Macron expressed gratification with the high level of ties between Baku and Paris,” Boussois said. “Despite during the war Paris supported Yerevan, the congratulatory letter sent on the occasion of the National Salvation Day is still on the Elysee state official website because, in reality, relations between Paris and Baku are a story written in the late 1980s by Francois Mitterrand and Heydar Aliyev."

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/203142.html

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