Baku rules out France's role in Karabakh truce, Azerbaijan-Armenia dialogue

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has ruled out France’s role in ensuring a ceasefire in the Karabakh region and contributing to a dialogue between Baku and Yerevan.

She made the remarks while commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement about the observance of the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia. At a joint press briefing with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Paris on June 1, Macron also spoke about the release of all detainees, including prisoners of war, the settlement of tensions between the parties, Azerbaijan's “withdrawal” from Armenian territories. He also voiced solidarity with Armenia.

“First of all, we would like to emphasize that a ceasefire is being ensured in the region, based on a joint statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia on November 10, 2020. Russian peacekeeping forces are carrying out a peacekeeping mission to ensure a ceasefire. We do not see any role of France in this matter,” Abdullayeva said.

The spokesperson said that Azerbaijan has always taken the position of exchanging all prisoners of war on the basis of the "all for all" principle.

“As we have repeatedly stated, there are no Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. As for the members of the sabotage group sent to Azerbaijan on November 26, 2020, after the signing of the trilateral statement, who committed a terror act, as well as the members of the intelligence-sabotage group attempting to plant landmines in the road in the direction of Kalbajar region on May 27, they are not prisoners of war,” Abdullayeva noted.

Speaking about Armenia’s false accusations against Azerbaijan about missing Armenian soldiers, she noted that it has recently been discovered in Armenia, that the missing soldiers are stored in a morgue refrigerator in the country.

“It caused a big scandal in Armenia. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, guided by humanitarian principles, found the bodies of about 1,600 Armenian servicemen with the participation of Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The bodies of Armenian soldiers were handed over to the other side. Nevertheless, Armenia has not yet provided information on the 4,000 Azerbaijanis who went missing during the First Karabakh War,” Abdullayeva said.

She welcomed Macron’s statement about the restoration of the Muslim monuments. With regards to the term “Nagorno-Karabakh” the French president referred to in his speech, the spokesperson emphasized that “there is no such administrative and territorial unit”.

Commenting on a direct dialogue referred to in Macron’s statement, Abdullayeva said that it is already taking place.

“According to the statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia on January 11, 2021, meetings are being held at the level of deputy prime ministers, thus there is a dialogue. However, France has no role in this process,” she said.

As for the border delimitation and demarcation, Abdullayeva reiterated that it has already been stated, Azerbaijan supports the beginning of the delimitation process, and this process must be resolved through negotiations.

She stressed once again that Azerbaijani servicemen serve in their native lands. Abdullayeva regretted that despite its OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship since 1997, France has never called for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories although relevant UN Security Council resolutions demanded that.

Speaking about the settlement of the recent border tensions via talks, the spokesperson said that Azerbaijan has always supported a negotiated solution to the conflict and has participated in the negotiations process for 28 years.

“That is why Azerbaijan is always open to discussions and negotiations. France is a co-chair country and has been participating in the regional processes since 1997. Therefore, the statement on the ‘return of France to the region’ is not clear,” the spokesperson said.

Abdullayeva underlined France’s special sympathy for Armenia.

“It is not a secret that France has a special sympathy for Armenia, but as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the country must maintain official neutrality. We hope that in accordance with the co-chairing mandate, France will take a neutral and impartial position,” she said.

During the last year's war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Macron and some French circles failed to demonstrate a neutral position, despite the fact that France is a co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group mediating talks between Baku and Yerevan to find a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict.

In contradiction to the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, only the interests of Armenia were protected and an inadequate position, which did not meet the requirements of a balanced and fair co-chairmanship, was displayed. This stance was several times criticized by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and some other senior officials.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10 brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.