It was a signal designed to send chills through Paris: Azerbaijani members of the parliament warned in a letter to the French Senate that France may cast a shadow over its neutrality with regards to its mediating role within a body assigned to peacefully solve its dispute with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh following the passing of a controversial bill by the French parliament that made it a crime to deny the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide.
The letter sent to the French Senate Friday simply echoed Azerbaijan’s concerns over the genocide-denial bill the lower house of the French parliament adopted a week ago.
In the latest twist to a saga, a group of Azerbaijani activists burned a French flag in front of French embassy in the capital Baku on Friday, demanding France leave its position in the Minsk Group, a platform of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) aimed at mediating peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration’s Social and Political Department, added fuel to an ongoing debate in Azerbaijan as to whether or not France could be an honest broker in the two-decade long conflict that has kept peace at bay in the South Caucasus. Recalling Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s earlier remarks about France’s role in the Minsk Group, Hasanov told reporters Thursday that France’s mediating role in the group will be discussed at the next meeting.
The Turkish president urged France on Friday to withdraw from the Minsk Group if the bill recently approved by the French National Assembly becomes law.
The bill sets a punishment of up to a year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros ($59,000) for those who deny or “outrageously minimize” the alleged genocide of Armenians in eastern Anatolia during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust. The bill now needs to be passed by the Senate, the upper house of parliament, before it comes into effect.
The disputed genocide of 1915 has been a matter of fuming discussions between Turks and Armenians, as Armenians claim Ottoman Turks carried out a systematic mass murder of Armenians with the aim of eradicating them from the country. Turks say Armenians were deported when they took up arms against the state at a time of chaos as the Ottoman Empire crumbled and modern day Turkey’s founders fought a political, armed war against foreign forces that tried to take over the country. Most of the casualties occurred when deported Armenians were not able to survive on the road to their destinations under extreme circumstances, although Armenians raise allegations that the deaths were intentional.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry officials declined to comment on the matter.
Earlier this week, however, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said that considering France is one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, it is saddening to see that some members of the French parliament have become hostages of the Armenian diaspora. He said if France takes a principled approach to certain issues, it should also look into the Khojaly massacre, where hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians were slaughtered by Armenians in 1992.
Rovshan Ibrahimov, a professor with Azerbaijan’s Qafqaz University, played down tensions between Azerbaijan and France over the genocide-denial bill. Recalling Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan’s statement that Turkey is not going to boycott French goods, Ibrahimov questioned why Azerbaijan should bother.
Çağlayan said last week that French investments in Turkey are safe, ruling out any boycott to French goods but suggested that “consumers might take matters into their own hands.”
Ibrahimov, who also presides over the foreign policy department at Baku’s Center for Strategic Studies (SAM), said it is difficult to link the French bill to France’s mediating role in the OSCE Minsk Group, yet he said France’s political approach to a matter that needs historical interpretation raises serious questions as to whether or not it will put the same scenario into play with respect to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
“France has totally lost its reputation by endorsing this bill,” Asim Mollazade, leader of Azerbaijan’s Democratic Reforms Party, said. He added it is obvious that the French leadership is under the influence of the Armenian diaspora.
Mollazade, who is also a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, said Azerbaijan must work to replace France with the European Union as a mediator in the Minsk Group, which he said may push progress in the perennial conflict.
According to the Azerbaijani politician, the French parliament has intervened in something that is out of its jurisdiction. He said the bill, restricting freedom of expression and thought, in fact is against the “spirit of France and Europe.”
He added that he thinks the French bill has primarily been designed and calculated for the presidential elections in France slated for April of next year. “This plan is all about [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy and his party’s aim to benefit from [the] Armenian diaspora during the elections,” Mollazade said, adding that French authorities had stopped the bill several times in the past and that the declining popularity of their party has forced them to shift their position.
Today’s Zaman
It was a signal designed to send chills through Paris: Azerbaijani members of the parliament warned in a letter to the French Senate that France may cast a shadow over its neutrality with regards to its mediating role within a body assigned to peacefully solve its dispute with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh following the passing of a controversial bill by the French parliament that made it a crime to deny the World War I-era killings of Armenians as genocide.
The letter sent to the French Senate Friday simply echoed Azerbaijan’s concerns over the genocide-denial bill the lower house of the French parliament adopted a week ago.
In the latest twist to a saga, a group of Azerbaijani activists burned a French flag in front of French embassy in the capital Baku on Friday, demanding France leave its position in the Minsk Group, a platform of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) aimed at mediating peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration’s Social and Political Department, added fuel to an ongoing debate in Azerbaijan as to whether or not France could be an honest broker in the two-decade long conflict that has kept peace at bay in the South Caucasus. Recalling Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s earlier remarks about France’s role in the Minsk Group, Hasanov told reporters Thursday that France’s mediating role in the group will be discussed at the next meeting.
The Turkish president urged France on Friday to withdraw from the Minsk Group if the bill recently approved by the French National Assembly becomes law.
The bill sets a punishment of up to a year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros ($59,000) for those who deny or “outrageously minimize” the alleged genocide of Armenians in eastern Anatolia during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust. The bill now needs to be passed by the Senate, the upper house of parliament, before it comes into effect.
The disputed genocide of 1915 has been a matter of fuming discussions between Turks and Armenians, as Armenians claim Ottoman Turks carried out a systematic mass murder of Armenians with the aim of eradicating them from the country. Turks say Armenians were deported when they took up arms against the state at a time of chaos as the Ottoman Empire crumbled and modern day Turkey’s founders fought a political, armed war against foreign forces that tried to take over the country. Most of the casualties occurred when deported Armenians were not able to survive on the road to their destinations under extreme circumstances, although Armenians raise allegations that the deaths were intentional.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry officials declined to comment on the matter.
Earlier this week, however, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said that considering France is one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, it is saddening to see that some members of the French parliament have become hostages of the Armenian diaspora. He said if France takes a principled approach to certain issues, it should also look into the Khojaly massacre, where hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians were slaughtered by Armenians in 1992.
Rovshan Ibrahimov, a professor with Azerbaijan’s Qafqaz University, played down tensions between Azerbaijan and France over the genocide-denial bill. Recalling Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan’s statement that Turkey is not going to boycott French goods, Ibrahimov questioned why Azerbaijan should bother.
Çağlayan said last week that French investments in Turkey are safe, ruling out any boycott to French goods but suggested that “consumers might take matters into their own hands.”
Ibrahimov, who also presides over the foreign policy department at Baku’s Center for Strategic Studies (SAM), said it is difficult to link the French bill to France’s mediating role in the OSCE Minsk Group, yet he said France’s political approach to a matter that needs historical interpretation raises serious questions as to whether or not it will put the same scenario into play with respect to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
“France has totally lost its reputation by endorsing this bill,” Asim Mollazade, leader of Azerbaijan’s Democratic Reforms Party, said. He added it is obvious that the French leadership is under the influence of the Armenian diaspora.
Mollazade, who is also a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, said Azerbaijan must work to replace France with the European Union as a mediator in the Minsk Group, which he said may push progress in the perennial conflict.
According to the Azerbaijani politician, the French parliament has intervened in something that is out of its jurisdiction. He said the bill, restricting freedom of expression and thought, in fact is against the “spirit of France and Europe.”
He added that he thinks the French bill has primarily been designed and calculated for the presidential elections in France slated for April of next year. “This plan is all about [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy and his party’s aim to benefit from [the] Armenian diaspora during the elections,” Mollazade said, adding that French authorities had stopped the bill several times in the past and that the declining popularity of their party has forced them to shift their position.
Today’s Zaman
