French MPs call to back Karabakh to promote peace in South Caucasus

French MPs call to back Karabakh to promote peace in South Caucasus

PanARMENIAN.Net - French parliamentarians called to support the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in order to promote a lasting peace in the South Caucasus.

As René Rouquet, Guy Teissier, François Rochebloine noted in an article published at Le Monde French daily, the May 12, 1994 peace treaty which stopped the lengthy and cruel war in the Nagorno Karabakh will soon mark its 20th anniversary. “As a result of the war for independence, a new state located between Armenia and Azerbaijan, on Armenian territory, at the crossroads of Russian, Turkish and Iranian cultures,” the article said.

“Even though the war is over, peace is yet to be procured,” the authors said, urging for a transparent dialogue, for Karabakh as well as Azerbaijan to gain prospects of a peaceful development.

The article went on to detail the instances of Azeri ceasefire violations resulting in losses of lives and rendering possibility of peaceful coexistence increasingly unlikely. "We, members of the France-Karabakh friendship group, call for realistic approach to the problems: neither bellicose rhetoric nor threats can induce Karabakh to become a part of Azerbaijan," the MPs said.

"Curing the wounds of the past is another step towards finding peace. Light has to be shed on crimes perpetrated in Sumgait, Kirovabad, Maragha and Khojalu that left hundreds dead, while the criminals went unpunished."

The parliamentarians further welcomed the report of the Freedom House international human rights watchdog organization, listing Karabah among "partly free" countries.

"We fully agree with the ex-leader of NKR Arkadi Ghukasyan in the fact that the purpose of the conflict settlement lies not only in the official abandonment of animosity but also in achieving historic reconciliation between the nations, with the contacts between the civil societies capable of promoting that goal," the MPs said. The parliamentarians expressed hope for their urge to be answered in Azerbaijani civil society, which can "find strength to stop blindly following the hatred propaganda to look into the peaceful future," Panorama.am said.

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