ArmInfo.The mayors of the three largest French cities of Paris, Lyon and Marseille published a joint article in the "Liberation" newspaper with a request to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan in connection with the blocking of the Lachin corridor by the latter.
The Embassy of Armenia in France provided a translation of the article under the heading:
POLICY OF PUNISHMENT AGAINST AZERBAIJAN IS NEEDED.
" The Republic of Artsakh, populated mainly by Armenians, has become a victim of a blockade organized by the Baku regime, which is gradually strangling the NKR. The mayors of Paris, Lyon and Marseille expect clear actions by France and the European Union in support of Artsakh, which will be taken in a short time," the article notes.
In this vein, attention is drawn to the fact that the militant policy of Azerbaijan towards the Republic of Artsakh gained new strength on December 12, when the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia was blocked under the coordination of official Baku.
"In addition, until last Friday, Azerbaijan also cut off gas supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh, thereby indicating its desire to strangle this small besieged republic of the South Caucasus. However, the consolidation of Western governments, and in particular the position of the French government, prompted Baku to resume gas supplies and thus way, fortunately, to avoid worsening the situation on the eve of a cold winter.
The situation, however, remains unacceptable, and France cannot tolerate the constant threat to the 120,000 Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (part of which is occupied by Azerbaijan). France cannot leave them to the mercy of dictator Ilham Aliyev, who has been encouraging a policy of hatred towards Armenians for two decades.
Recalling that the French Senate and its National Assembly had recently called on the French government to take structural measures, the heads of municipalities called on the President of France to officially meet with the elected representatives of the Republic of Artsakh.
"In parallel with this, we call for the unconditional condemnation of the Baku regime, which declared through its foreign minister that Azerbaijan would no longer negotiate on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in violation of its own international obligations, especially as part of the statement of November 9, 2020.
We also ask for the initiation of a European policy of sanctions against Azerbaijan, similar to the one adopted against Russia, starting, for example, with freezing the assets of Azerbaijani leaders and oligarchs in our country. And since this regime is no longer willing to negotiate, we ask France to take a transparent stance towards Nagorno-Karabakh, especially in terms of decentralized cooperation. So that our regions, departments and cities, following the example of Paris, Lyon, Marseille or other local self-government bodies, can mobilize human, financial and material resources, extending a helping hand to Artsakh to restore numerous infrastructures destroyed by successive conflicts," the article reads.
There is also an appeal to France to take part in the resumption of the work of the Stepanakert airport. "This air bridge will reduce the consequences of the blockade and make life easier for thousands of civilians whose only sin is the desire to live on their own land.
Firmly convinced that French diplomacy should play a major role, we call on the President of France and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to continue their efforts, to join our partners, to establish lasting peace in the region and, in accordance with international law, to ensure the implementation of nations' right to self- determination
Finally, we ask our country and the European Union to be more far-sighted in concluding cooperation and trade agreements with Azerbaijan. Most of all, we are concerned about the initiative of Ursula von der Leyen to receive gas from Baku, or rather from Russia through Baku. It is alarming that the financing of the conflict against the Republic of Artsakh is not condemned and does not meet with strong opposition from our leaders, so that it does not turn out that the peaceful victims of armed conflicts, in this case Armenians, in other places Ukrainians or Yemenis, are sacrificed on the altar of real politics ", the article notes.