BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. An international conference on the topic "France and the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict" was held in Baku, Trend reports.
The event saw participation of Chairman of the Board of the Center for Analysis of International Relations Farid Shafiyev, Professor of Public Law at the University of the French Riviera Christian Vallard, Azerbaijani MP Tural Ganjaliyev, founder and editor-in-chief of the French news portal "Musulmans en France", editor-in-chief of the Paris-based "La Gazette du Caucase" online newspaper Jean-Michel Brun, and others.
Addressing the event attendees, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Analysis of International Relations Farid Shafiyev pointed out that France has consistently been a contentious player in its dealings with Azerbaijan.
He emphasized that Azerbaijan has consistently aimed to build positive ties with France. "Our country has cooperated with French companies in energy and other sectors. This crisis was caused by France's actions. Certainly, the Armenian Diaspora in France played a certain role in this, but the situation is not confined to this," he added.
Board member of the Center for Analysis of International Relations Gulshan Pashayeva further noted that France is among the largest countries hosting the Armenian Diaspora globally, with an estimated population of 600,000 people. "Following Russia and the US, it is the third largest Armenian diaspora in the world and the largest in the EU. Moreover, France has traditionally strong lobbying structures that actively support Armenian interests".
She recalled that France was initially one of the first states to recognize Azerbaijan's independence on January 3, 1992. Bilateral relations were officially established on February 21, 1992, and Azerbaijan's embassy in France was opened in October 1994.
Further speaking, Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament Tural Ganjaliyev noted that Emmanuel Macron, having come to power in France, started to pursue a confrontational policy towards Azerbaijan.
Ganjaliyev pointed out that Azerbaijan holds French cultural elements and literature in high regard. "Looking at history, one can see that during the period of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), quite a few Azerbaijanis were educated in France. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, France sought to remain neutral in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, after 2003, France began to pursue a biased policy towards Azerbaijan. This is because Azerbaijan started demanding full restoration of its rights to its territories occupied by Armenia".
