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EXPERTS OF ATLAS: FRANCE CANNOT BE IMPARTIAL IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
MilAz.info
Dec 23 2011
Azerbaijan
Adoption by the French National Assembly of a bill on criminalizing
denial of the "Armenian genocide" demonstrated that the French
state is increasingly becoming a spokesman for the interests of the
Armenian lobby.
Thus, France can no longer be regarded as an impartial mediator in
the Karabakh settlement. The statement was made by the head of the
Research Centre Atlas, Elkhan Shahinoglu at a press conference on
the results of negotiations on the Karabakh settlement in 2011.
He recalled that during his visit to the South Caucasus, French
President Nicolas Sarkozy also demonstrated pro-Armenian sympathies,
which resulted in the statements made in Yerevan and the visit to
the monument "to the victims of genocide."
The decision adopted by the French National Assembly affects not only
Turkey"s interests, but also Azerbaijan and Baku has already announced
specific measures, which it will take in the event of approval of
the document and its coming to legal force.
One of these steps may be raising the issue of removal of France
from the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group. The expert also
said the government has to call the company Total to influence the
French government and convince it not to take any steps that would
cast doubt on the French impartiality.
In the past year there were two meetings between the leaders of
Azerbaijan and Armenia through the mediation of Dmitry Medvedev,
but no progress has been made.
Progress is not expected either in the next two years in connection
with the period of presidential elections in Azerbaijan and Armenia
and in the intermediate countries - Russia, the USA and France.
However, a new trend is increasing attention of the EU in the
conflict. Appointment of a new EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus which, unlike his predecessor, will be engaged only in solving
conflicts, gives grounds to speak about the activation of Brussels.
As for Russia, in the opinion of another expert of Atlas, Nijat
Samedoglu, after the election of Vladimir Putin for his third term,
Moscow"s policy on Karabakh will not change.
Experts of Atlas presented the results of their survey on how to
resolve the Karabakh conflict, conducted in Tartar, Barda and Goychay.
The study found that the majority of the population was for a "peaceful
settlement". And in the frontline Tartar district the supporters of
the "peaceful way" were 85%, while in Barda and Goychay there were
60%. In all the three areas, the population is in favor of dialogue
with the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh at the level of civil
society activists.
The surveys were conducted among the politically educated population,
and the community discussions were organized under the project New
Media of the American organization IREX.
MilAz.info
Dec 23 2011
Azerbaijan
Adoption by the French National Assembly of a bill on criminalizing
denial of the "Armenian genocide" demonstrated that the French
state is increasingly becoming a spokesman for the interests of the
Armenian lobby.
Thus, France can no longer be regarded as an impartial mediator in
the Karabakh settlement. The statement was made by the head of the
Research Centre Atlas, Elkhan Shahinoglu at a press conference on
the results of negotiations on the Karabakh settlement in 2011.
He recalled that during his visit to the South Caucasus, French
President Nicolas Sarkozy also demonstrated pro-Armenian sympathies,
which resulted in the statements made in Yerevan and the visit to
the monument "to the victims of genocide."
The decision adopted by the French National Assembly affects not only
Turkey"s interests, but also Azerbaijan and Baku has already announced
specific measures, which it will take in the event of approval of
the document and its coming to legal force.
One of these steps may be raising the issue of removal of France
from the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group. The expert also
said the government has to call the company Total to influence the
French government and convince it not to take any steps that would
cast doubt on the French impartiality.
In the past year there were two meetings between the leaders of
Azerbaijan and Armenia through the mediation of Dmitry Medvedev,
but no progress has been made.
Progress is not expected either in the next two years in connection
with the period of presidential elections in Azerbaijan and Armenia
and in the intermediate countries - Russia, the USA and France.
However, a new trend is increasing attention of the EU in the
conflict. Appointment of a new EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus which, unlike his predecessor, will be engaged only in solving
conflicts, gives grounds to speak about the activation of Brussels.
As for Russia, in the opinion of another expert of Atlas, Nijat
Samedoglu, after the election of Vladimir Putin for his third term,
Moscow"s policy on Karabakh will not change.
Experts of Atlas presented the results of their survey on how to
resolve the Karabakh conflict, conducted in Tartar, Barda and Goychay.
The study found that the majority of the population was for a "peaceful
settlement". And in the frontline Tartar district the supporters of
the "peaceful way" were 85%, while in Barda and Goychay there were
60%. In all the three areas, the population is in favor of dialogue
with the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh at the level of civil
society activists.
The surveys were conducted among the politically educated population,
and the community discussions were organized under the project New
Media of the American organization IREX.