“France condemns Azerbaijan’s action” in Nagorno Karabakh. The sentence could not be clearer. It is “a humanitarian drama”, “almost the entire Armenian population was forced to leave (…) a territory in which they live legitimately”, denounced government spokesperson Olivier Véran, interviewed on BFM TV . The former Minister of Health, however, refused to use the term “ethnic cleansing”, put forward by Armenia and the boss of LR senators, Bruno Retailleau.
“Things must be done within the framework of the United Nations,” added Olivier Véran, citing three priorities: “the restoration of humanitarian conditions, support for the population and the mobilization of the international community.” “We must discuss the EU’s relationship with Azerbaijan”, while Brussels signed a major gas contract with Baku in January, noted on France Inter the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet. “Should we not take sanctions against the Azeris? We cannot stand idly by. We must continue, go further.”
Armenian separatists, who controlled Nagorno Karabakh for three decades, capitulated and agreed to lay down their arms last week, after a lightning offensive by Azerbaijan to reconquer this territory. Since then, the enclave has been almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants, with more than 100,000 refugees having fled to Armenia for fear of reprisals from Azerbaijan. A UN mission, requested by the European Union, arrived in Nagorno Karabakh on Sunday.