MPS’ TRIP MAKES ‘NO DIFFERENCE’ TO FRANCE’S KARABAKH POLICY
news.az
Aug 23, 2011
Azerbaijan
The visit of a group of French MPs to the breakaway region of
Karabakh in no way changes official policy towards the territory,
Paris has said.
Asked to comment on the visit, French Foreign Ministry spokesman
Bernard Valero told a regular press briefing on Tuesday that French
policy on Karabakh remained unchanged.
“The parliamentarians were duly warned about our position on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This trip makes no difference or changes
to France’s policy on this conflict,” Valero said.
“France, like all the countries of the international community,
including Armenia itself, does not recognize the independence of
this territory.
“Its international juridical status can be defined only in the
framework of a peaceful, fair solution agreed among all the parties
concerned. France co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group, alongside the
United States and Russia, and has been charged in this capacity with
contributing to the search for a compromise based on the principles of
the Helsinki Final Act and the proposals put forward by the French,
American and Russian presidents several times, notably at the G8
summits in L’Aquila in 2009 and Muskoka in 2010.”
The visit by five members of the French National Assembly, who did
not first seek permission from Baku, prompted the Azerbaijani embassy
in Paris to issue a note of protest.
The French Foreign Ministry responded that the Karabakh visit was
not an official one made through the French National Assembly, but
a private initiative by Guy Teissier, chairman of the parliamentary
commission for defence and the armed forces.
Visits to the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh are technically
illegal without permission from Baku. In practice, many people visit
the breakaway territory.