Baku, Azerbaijan, July 7

Trend:

A number of former and current officials of France sent a letter to President of France Emmanuel Macron and pointed out the July 4 shelling of the Alkhanli village in Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district by the Armenian armed forces, which resulted in the killing of a two-year-old child and her grandmother.

The letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, was sent by:

Former minister, Member of the European Parliament Rachida Dati

Former minister, Senator representing Upper Rhine department at the French Senate Jean-Marie Bockel

MP Jean-Pierre Door, Loiret department

MP Jerome Lambert, Charente department

MP Jean-Luc Reitzer, Upper Rhine department

MP Andre Villiers, Yonne department

Senator Andre Reichardt, Lower Rhine department

Senator Nathalie Goulet, Orne department

Senator Jerome Bignon, Somme department

Senator Eric Dolige, Loire department

Senator Sylvie Goy-Chavent, Ain department

Senator Alain Houpert, Cote-d'Or department

Senator Christian Namy, Meuse department

Senator Alain Vasselle, Oise department

Former MP, President of the French Association of Friends of Azerbaijan Jean-Francois Mansell

Former MP, Mayor of Claye-Souilly Yves Albarello,

Former MP, Mayor of Arcachon Yves Foulon,

Former MP, Mayor of Houdan Jean-Marie Tetart

Former MP, Georges Fenech

In the letter, the abovementioned people noted that Armenia has been violating international law for 25 years.

The letter, which contains information about the expulsion of one million Azerbaijanis from their homes as a result of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the policy of ethnic cleansing pursued by the Armenians against Azerbaijanis and the Khojaly genocide, states that 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands is occupied by Armenian armed forces.

They reminded about the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and General Assembly on the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from the Azerbaijani territories, and urged the French president to exert pressure on Armenia to fulfil those resolutions.

The letter is as follows:

“Mr. President,

The 25-year occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent districts, by Armenia, adds to the prolonged violation of international law and the fact that tears of the families of countless victims of this unresolved conflict, both among civilians and the military, to which the world remains indifferent, continue to flow.

The killing of two-year-old Zahra and her grandmother by the Armenian side on July 4 once again reminded to more than one million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs, who were expelled from their homes, from their land, and who became victims of ethnic cleansing, about the terrible Khojaly genocide, where hundreds of people were killed en masse, and about the pain from the occupation of the native lands.

The time has come when negotiations are needed to achieve sustainable peace in the unstable world we live in, because if Azerbaijan runs out of patience, the whole region can engulf in flames.

As you know, the primary basis for the conflict settlement was defined in resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), adopted by the UN Security Council, and 62/243 of the UN General Assembly.

These resolutions require complete, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Unfortunately, due to the non-compliance with these resolutions, the Azerbaijani territories are still under occupation.

The situation today is very clear – the international community has resolutions, adopted in the course of voting, and the OSCE Minsk Group, which is charged with resolving the conflict.

The time has come to put an end to the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories and the status quo, which have been going on for 25 years.

International law should be applied everywhere. This is an unconditional factor of the regional and international security. It is important that pressure is immediately exerted by the international community, including France, for Armenia to fulfill the UN Security Council resolutions in the shortest possible time.

France, like Russia and the US, has been a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group since 1997. There seems to be no assurance from its partners, in connection with their strategic and tactical reasons, on mobilization to resolve the conflict.

In order to stop the protraction of intermediaries and given the inadmissibility of the conflict resumption, we ask you, Mr. President, to immediately react in accordance with the authority of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair and a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

France is capable of carrying out active political activities in the Caucasus as well.

Balanced political, economic and friendly relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan enable us to listen to each of the two states. After that we only need strong political will.

Wouldn't it be appropriate if at the beginning of a new five-year mandate that began with the motto of the return of France to the international stage, the French initiative, related to manifestation of respect for human life and compliance with international law in the Caucasus, was put forward?

Believing in your will to put forward fair initiatives to restore peace in the Caucasus, we express our great respect for you, Mr. President.”