BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 6
Trend:
Recently, a group of French lawyers, experts in international law, submitted a petition to the French government which outlined their position on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and called on France to take an impartial and more active position to ensure peace, security and development in the South Caucasus region, Trend reports.
One of the petition authors, a member of the Paris Bar Association, Yasin Yakuti, commented on this petition.
"It was about the historical and legal context of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the ontology of which has been distorted in France since 2014 and reached its peak during the Second Karabakh war. One of the main goals of this petition is to remind the French society and government of the international legal aspect of this conflict.
In addition, we have drawn the attention of the government to the dire humanitarian consequences of the 30-year long conflict," he said.
First of all, as Yakuti notes, the authors of the petition called on the government to respect international law and France's obligations in determining its approaches to issues related to Franco-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
"In addition, we called on members of parliament of all levels, as well as other politicians to stop illegitimate attacks and actions against Azerbaijan, since we believe that this is counterproductive and only undermines the prestige and confidence in France in the region.
We call on France to take a position based on respect for international law. We also called on the government to support the implementation of the trilateral agreement of November 10, 2020 and to assist in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of the generally recognized principles of international law contained in the UN Charter and the UN General Assembly Declaration of October 24, 1970, as well as in the Final Act of Helsinki 1975 OSCE," he said.
The authors also call on the government to support the sending of a UNESCO mission to Azerbaijan to assess the damage to its cultural property caused during the conflict and occupation of its territories by Armenia.
"We call on the French government to respect international law, which is the only guarantor of the maintenance of peace, security and development in the South Caucasus region.
We call on French parliamentarians, elected officials and politicians to stop illegal, brutal and irresponsible attacks on Azerbaijan and its people, which undermine the prestige and authority of France, its regional position and the establishment of lasting peace and development in the South Caucasus region. We call on the government to support the implementation of the trilateral agreements of November 10, 2020 and January 11, 2021 as an important basis for establishing lasting peace, security and cooperation, unblocking economic and transport links in the South Caucasus region.
We call on the government to take the necessary measures to normalize bilateral relations with Azerbaijan based on the principles of mutual respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity of states and the inviolability of internationally recognized borders, and to send a high-level special mission to Azerbaijan as soon as possible for this purpose.
We call on the government to actively support Armenia and Azerbaijan in establishing diplomatic relations based on the principles of the Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation between States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, adopted by the UN General Assembly on October 24, 1970.
We demand that the government also sends humanitarian aid to Azerbaijani displaced persons and civilian victims affected by the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to ensure equal treatment.
We call on the French government, in cooperation with the government of Azerbaijan, to facilitate the sending of a UNESCO delegation to Azerbaijan to assess the damage caused to the cultural property of Azerbaijan during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the occupation of its territories, as well as to identify other violations of the 1954 Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict," the petition said.