On Tuesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused France of creating a new regional conflict in the South Caucasus by supplying arms to Baku’s arch-foe, Armenia.
France, which has a substantial Armenian diaspora, is often criticised by Baku for having a “pro-Armenian bias” in the territorial war between the Caucasus countries.
France Preparing Grounds for Regional War: Aliyev
Addressing the participants at the International Conference on “Decolonization: Women’s Empowerment and Development,” President Aliyev talked about the deterioration of relations with France.
Aliyev stressed that "by arming Armenia, it [France] implements a militaristic policy, encourages revanchist forces in Armenia, and prepares the ground for the start of new wars in our region.”
“France destabilises not only its past and present colonies but also our region, the South Caucasus, by supporting separatist tendencies and separatists,” Aliyev asserted.
#FPWorld: Azerbaijani President #IlhamAliyev on Tuesday accused France of inciting a fresh war in the Caucasus by arming Baku’s arch foe Armenia, with which it had fought two wars.https://t.co/jLWtuNDuBe
— Firstpost (@firstpost) November 21, 2023
“France, which currently controls 13 overseas territories as its colony, and also interferes in the internal affairs of its former colonies located in different continents of the world,” Aliyev said, adding that it “continues its policy of neocolonialism.”
“Most of the bloody crimes in the colonial history of humanity were committed by France,” Aliyev argued.
Aliyev emphasised that France, which occupied dozens of nations in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and Latin America, has robbed their wealth and oppressed their people for many years.
According to Aliyev, in such regions, France has committed multiple military crimes against humanity, and the French armed forces discriminated against ethnic and religious affiliation and hundreds of thousands of civilians were subjected to genocide.
“As the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, I have several times listed the numerous crimes against humanity and atrocities committed by France in the occupied countries with facts,” Aliyev remarked.
Azerbaijan rejects Armenia peace talks in US over Washington's 'biased remarks'
— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) November 16, 2023
➡️ https://t.co/trqvsGvREo pic.twitter.com/yd7jIvSlda
France’s Decision to Provide Arms to Armenia
Last month, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said France will deliver military weapons to Armenia as tensions with Azerbaijan rise.
“France has agreed to forge future contracts with Armenia for the delivery of military equipment to enable Armenia to defend itself,” Colonna stated during a press conference in Yerevan.
Armenia signed a contract with Thales to purchase three Ground Master 200 radars and another with Safran to purchase equipment such as binoculars and sensors.
As per the reports, the French government will deploy a French military officer as a defence adviser for the Armenian executive branch on subjects such as armed forces training in the coming months.
France will also train Armenian soldiers and assist Yerevan in auditing Armenia's air defence to identify weak points.
Earlier this month, the French government officially began the transfer of weapons to Armenia, implementing the conditions of the cooperation agreement signed last month.
Recently, several French-made “Bastion” multi-purpose armoured personnel carriers and components of the French “ARQUUS” brand for “Bastion” were seen being unloaded at the Black Sea coastal Poti port in Georgia.
Recent War between Azerbaijan, Armenia
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades. Aliyev gained a huge success in the recent war in September when he reclaimed Azerbaijan’s Karabakh area, where ethnic Armenians have enjoyed de facto independence since the early 1990s.
Azerbaijan declared victory in late September after a swift military attack in Nagorno-Karabakh, driving ethnic Armenians residing in the breakaway region into exile.
As Azerbaijani forces made significant advances in the breakaway enclave, Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership agreed to a ceasefire to prevent further bloodshed.
Since then, Azerbaijan and the leadership in Karabakh have begun negotiations regarding integrating the enclave into Azerbaijan.
However, the territory’s separatist leader, Samvel Shahramanyan, also issued an order dissolving all state institutions beginning next year, ending the territory’s struggle for independence.
More than half of the estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians reportedly fled the enclave in the week after the ceasefire, believing they would have no future in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan has stated that it intends to integrate the region’s population as “equal citizens” and has denied Armenia's charges of ethnic cleansing.
President Aliyev emphasised that Azerbaijanis who have been displaced from the region due to the decades-long conflict should be able to return.