PARIS (Realist English). Eleven French parliamentarians and political leaders from different sides, including Eric Ciotti, Olivier Faure and Fabien Roussel, called on the President of the Fifth Republic Emmanuel Macron to intervene to “prevent the irreparable” and ensure the security of the Armenians of Artsakh. The corresponding appeal was published by Le Monde magazine.
“Emmanuel Macron must do everything possible to guarantee the security of the Armenians of Nagorno—Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia,” the appeal says.
On December 12, the Baku fascists occupied the Stepanakert-Goris highway, the only route that connects Artsakh with Armenia, thus creating a threat of a humanitarian catastrophe. About 120,000 people, including 30,000 children, are deprived of vital resources, including food and medicines. Baku also turned off gas and heating for three days, exposing the population to frosts.
According to French politicians, “the situation is a further escalation of the aggression against Armenians that Baku has been committing since September 2020, regardless of whether they are citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh or the Republic of Armenia, violating international law, the Geneva Conventions and negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group, which provide for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue”.
“Everything suggests that Azerbaijan will not stop at this and will use the slightest opportunity to continue maneuvers to destabilize and oppress the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia with the stated goal of ethnic cleansing… War crimes, incitement of ethnic hatred, destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage, the attack on Armenia in September 2022, the illegal occupation of its sovereign territory, repeated abuses against the civilian population — Azerbaijan’s actions are unacceptable,” the French public figures stressed.
The authors of the appeal also remind that there are centuries-old cultural, political and economic ties between Armenians and France:
“Armenians and France are trade routes to Asia and the Middle East with Jacques Coeur (1400-1456), Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) and Colbert (1619-1683), the development of our textile industry, the first cafe in Paris, the construction of the Suez Canal, the culture of madder and apricot, the accordion of our folk balls. Armenians and France are the Armenian Legion that fought under our flag during World War II, and the Resistance hero Misak Manushyan (1906-1944), who fought against barbarism. Finally, it is the memory of our greatest writers, from Pierre Corneille, Gerard de Nerval, George Sand and Lamartine to Victor Hugo and Charles Peguy, from Romain Rolland to Max Jacob and Louis Aragon.”
