President Emmanuel Macron of France meets with Armenian community members in Marseilles on June 28
Azerbaijan Accuses Macron of “Pro-Armenia Bias”
“Do not doubt my commitment to Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia as a whole,” President Emmanuel Macron of France said when he met members of the French Armenian community at an event in Marseilles on Wednesday.
“I will continue to take action, even if I am almost the only one in the international community with this agenda. You also know that for the first time, France sent its military attaché to its embassy in Armenia, and that means something, right? We have to do everything in our power, as much as possible,” Macron added, according to the ARF Press Service.
Macron made the remarks seemingly in response to French National Assembly member Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, who was also present at the event and told the president that in light of the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade of Artsakh, as well as Baku’s military aggression against Armenians, a more effective and practical approach — and not mere moral — was needed to address the matter.
“I am the only one who has a clear position and message on the Karabakh issue,” said Macron in response to the lawmaker’s assertions. “I have and will continue to put more pressure on Aliyev than Pashinyan himself. I am the only one who has a clear position and message on the issue of Artsakh,”
“Mr. President, as French citizens, we turn to you as our president, as well as a co-chair of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, and we expect you to show practical support to our compatriots from Artsakh,” said Hrach Varjabedian, the ARF Western Europe Central Committee chair.
“We know that our colleague Murat Papazian, the Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council of French-Armenian Organizations, has discussed the alarming and deeply worrying situation in Artsakh on various occasions with you. Now we turn to you with the same ask with the same level of urgency. It should also be clear that any discussion the centuries-old Armenian Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan is unacceptable for us,” added Varjabedian.
Baku hit back at Macron, accusing the French president of having a pro-Armenian biased.
“French President Emmanuel Macron’s anti-Armenian statements during a meeting with the Armenian community in Marseille, are unacceptable,” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. “Macron’s biased statements prevent the establishment of peace and tranquility in the region.”
Baku called Macron’s claims that he is trying to put pressure on the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev “a figment of his imagination.”
“Attempts to put pressure on the president of Azerbaijan have never brought results,” the Ministry said, accusing Macron of being “a tool of the Armenian lobby of France.”