Monday, October 5 2020 13:01

ArmInfo. No one can and should not try to limit the reaction of French President Emmanuel Macron to extremely dangerous and thoughtless political statements from Ankara regarding the situation around Artsakh. A similar opinion was  expressed to ArmInfo by the director of the Institute of Eastern  Europe and the CIS, Dr. Alexander Tsinker.

"Russia, the United States and France are the co-chairs of the Minsk  Group on the Karabakh settlement.  Meanwhile, the status of the  co-chairs presupposes the neutrality of the governments of these  countries and their representatives when making decisions. So far,  the co-chairs of the group have succeeded speak with a single voice  equidistant from the warring parties. And this is despite the fact  that the OSCE Minsk Group member Turkey is trying to present, then  Russia, and in the last conflict - France, as a side acting from the  positions of Armenia and Artsakh, "he said.

According to the Israeli political scientist, the answer to the  question of Turkey's motivation for such actions lies on the surface  and Erdogan does not even hide this. Zinker is convinced of the  following logic of such actions - since Armenia has support in the  person of one of the co-chairs, it is urgent to introduce the fourth  - Turkey, which will support Azerbaijan.

In this light, based on the current situation, French President  Macron, who actively comes out with initiatives to resolve the  conflict, according to Zinker, should express his attitude towards  the countries participating in the conflict objectively, together  with other co-chairs.

"At the same time, I would not rush to answer the question - did  France intercept the initiative for resolving the conflict from  Russia. Decisions will be made by the three co-chairs jointly.  realizing that the conflict directly affects its interests in the  South Caucasus, and difficult relations with Turkey, this time I  chose a cautious tactic, "he stressed.

Against this background, the active actions of President Macron, in  the opinion of the Israeli political scientist, were initiated by  several reasons. In particular, by open concern for the fate of the  Armenian people, confrontation with Turkey and confirmation of their  joint leadership in Europe with Germany. In any case, regardless of  the motivation for pushing the French president to action, Zinker  considers their main focus to stop the bloodshed and resolve the  protracted conflict.

Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, represented by the co-chairs from  Russia, the United States and France, has been involved in the  settlement of the Karabakh conflict. At present, the settlement  process is nominally proceeding on the basis of the "Madrid  Principles", nominated by the OSCE Minsk Group co- chairs in 2007 in  Madrid and updated in 2009, which, among other things, provide for  the deployment of a peacekeeping contingent in the conflict zone. The  OSCE Minsk Group also includes Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden,  Finland and Turkey, as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan.