In a resolution approved almost unanimously late on Wednesday, the French Senate said that the “forced exodus” of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population caused by the offensive amounted to “ethnic cleansing.” It reaffirmed support for the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination, saying that is “the only possible path towards lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”
The international community should therefore demand that Baku guarantee the safe return of the Karabakh refugees to their homeland, adds the non-binding resolution passed amid France’s heightened tensions with Azerbaijan.
The Senate went on to deplore what it described as Azerbaijani territorial claims to Armenia and, in particular, Baku’s demands for an extraterritorial corridor to the Nakhichevan exclave. It demanded the “immediate and unconditional withdrawal” of Azerbaijani troops from Armenian border areas seized after the 2020 war in Karabakh.
The resolution also calls on the French government as well as the European Union to consider imposing sanctions such as “the seizure of Azerbaijani leaders’ assets and an embargo on gas and oil imports from Azerbaijan.”
Armenia welcomed resolution on Thursday through its parliament speaker Alen Simonian. In a Facebook post, he thanked the French senators for “the important initiative to support Armenia and the Armenian people.” The Armenian government stopped championing the principle of self-determination in the Karabakh conflict in 2022.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani parliament’s foreign relations committee strongly condemned the resolution. In a statement, it urged the Azerbaijani government to cut economic ties with France and expel all French firms from Azerbaijan.
Tensions between the two countries already run high prior to the resolution. France has stepped up support for Armenia and criticism of Azerbaijan in recent years. It initiated an emergency session of the UN Security Council right after the Azerbaijani assault on Karabakh condemned by key EU member states as well as the United States.
In October, France became the first Western nation to sign major arms deals with Yerevan. Baku condemned those deals before expelling two French diplomats in December. Paris ordered the tit-for-tat expulsion of two Azerbaijani diplomats shortly afterwards.
It emerged early this month that a French citizen based in Azerbaijan was arrested and charged with espionage around that time. The French Foreign Ministry accused Baku holding the businessman, Martin Ryan, arbitrarily and demanded his immediate release.