THE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW OF PRESIDENT OF FRANCE NICOLAS SARKOZY TO MEDIAMAX
Noyan Tapan
07.10.2011
– Mr. President, you will be visiting Armenia for the first time. What
are you expecting from your visit?
– This visit has a great significance for me. I wanted to visit your
country long ago. I told President Sargsyan about it right after
his election when he invited me. This visit coincides with the 20th
anniversary of Armenia’s independence and it makes its symbolism
even stronger.
I wish that this visit, which takes place after last week’s official
visit of President Sargsyan to France, will become an occasion to
celebrate those unique ties which unite our two countries and people.
Our friendship is rooted in history but it was tempered in the
Genocide tragedy, when France became a refuge for dozens of thousands
of Armenians who have survived the massacre.
Inseparable ties uniting France and Armenia were confirmed at that very
moment – in the horror of a dreadful ordeal, a terrible tragedy the
Armenian people went through, which can never be described by words,
and everyone should call it by its own name – Genocide. France is
proud by the fact that it was the first country to have officially
recognized Genocide by law.
My visit is also a chance to express gratitude to hundreds of thousands
of French people of Armenian origin, without whom France would have
never been the country it is today. The heart of French-Armenian
relations beats only in these exceptional human ties.
These relations make our people closer than friends – sisters.
And, finally, at the moment when Armenia celebrates the 20th
anniversary of its independence, this visit is an occasion to pay
tribute to the Armenian nation. You have done much in hard regional
conditions: created a democracy, effectively passed to market economy,
play an important and respectable role on the international arena.
Many challenges remain, of course, particularly the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which France is deeply involved as an
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair.
I have no doubts that political and economic reforms will continue
and Armenia will have a brilliant future. Your country can always
rely on France.
– France is one of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs for the settlement of
the NK conflict. Speaking about Armenia and Azerbaijan, many experts
often recall the experience of France and Germany in the period
following the World War II, when despite the existing antagonism,
Paris and Bonn found the strength for reconciliation, and today they
are one of the closest allies and leaders of the EU. What do you think,
how appropriate this analogy is?
– The history of France and Germany shows that even the biggest pain
can be softened and the deepest hatred can be overcome, and even
during the most difficult moments of their history peoples can find
the strength for reconciliation.
By the time our countries chose reconciliation, they had had three
conflicts with each other during several decades. During the World War
I, France and Germany fought tooth and nail. Our countries found the
strength for reconciliation and had built a strong friendship on the
fragments of World War II, accompanied by horrors and sufferings. This
friendship is the cornerstone of European construction today.
To have this, our countries needed such extraordinary people like
General de Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer. They exhibited courage
necessary for reaching peace, since sometimes more courage is
needed for establishing peace than for continuing the war. Being
real statesmen, only several years after the war they managed to
persuade their peoples that peace has no alternative and each of
the sides should overcome its hatred and continue the path to peace
and cooperation.
You, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, should chose this path. The time
has come for you to make a risky choice for peace, as there is no
bigger danger than the preservation of status-quo which gives birth to
illusions, provokes revenge and moves off all the prospects for peace.
No other country, but France, can imagine what Nagorno Karabakh means
for Armenia. However, 17 years after the war, which had caused so
many deaths and sufferings, the time has come to resolve the conflict
and find the way to reconciliation. I’ll also deliver this message to
President Aliyev in Baku, where I am leaving after my visit to Armenia.
– France has a big mediation experience in conflict resolution. One
of such examples was the role Paris played in the resolution of the
August 2008 crisis between Russia and Georgia. Could France or the
EU assume a bigger role in the process of NK settlement, especially
taking into consideration many statements about EU’s desire to play
a more active role in this issue?
– The European Union has recently reinforced its role in the
South Caucasus and I am very glad about it. At first, the EU did it
through the European Neighborhood Policy, and then within the Eastern
Partnership which France backed from the very beginning.
France wants the European Union to establish closer relations with the
countries of the region, beginning with Armenia. South Caucasus is a
strategic region for the European Union and associative and partner
ties with the European Union will facilitate prosperity, strengthening
of democracy and dialogue in all three Caucasus countries.
There exists one format to bolster the efforts of the international
community for the settlement of the Karabakh problem – the Minsk
Group. Each of three Co-Chair states enjoys the confidence of two
sides and is involved in the process of definition of conditions for
conflict settlement. But the Armenians and Azerbaijanis themselves
should find this path first of all. We can help, escort but we can
never establish peace instead of you.
– France was involved in the process of Armenian-Turkish reconciliation
and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was present at the
signing of the Protocols 2 years ago. Do you see new possibilities
for Yerevan and Ankara and could Paris render assistance to the sides?
– The Protocols on establishing diplomatic relations and opening
the border between Turkey and Armenia aroused many hopes. This
reconciliation process has reached a deadlock today, which I deeply
regret.
President Sargsyan exhibited wisdom and foresight saying the next day
after one of our meetings in Paris that Armenia is ready to ratify
the Protocols when Turkey is ready for it. I hope the process will
resume soon.
From: A. Papazian