French Senator prepares proposal to recognise Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
PARIS: French lawmaker Valerie Boyer says she will submit a proposal to the Senate to recognise the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Republic of Artsakh), where a confrontation between Azerbaijan and Armenia has been ongoing since the end of last month.
"To oppose the advance of Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh is also to oppose the expansion of Turkish Islam across Europe. This week I will table a text in the Senate to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh and condemn the actions of Turkey and Azerbaijan," Boyer wrote on Twitter.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Le Figaro daily last week that France should adopt a balanced stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Turkey has pledged support to Azerbaijan since hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh resumed at the end of September. The unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed independence from Baku after the breakdown of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
On October 9, talks were held in Moscow between the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia with the aim of reaching a Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement. The Moscow meeting resulted in a humanitarian ceasefire that came into force on October 10 but nonetheless failed to hold. A new truce has since been agreed upon. It came into effect at 20:00 GMT on Saturday, October 17, but both sides have been reporting violations.
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told reporters on Monday that a verification mechanism to ensure compliance with the ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region was needed, and the issue was currently being discussed.
On Sunday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement that the UN chief was expecting the conflicting sides in Nagorno-Karabakh to fully abide by the commitments under the most recent humanitarian truce and to immediately resume substantive negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by France, Russia, and the United States.