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Qabil Ashirov

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Needless to say that the South Caucasus policy of France, which is following the footprints of Iran and Russia will lead to a deadlock like the latter ones' South Causian policies. Russia is gradually losing its power as it is wasting its resources on the battle ground with Ukraine and besides, it is losing its influence in the South Caucasus due to lacking care for Armenia. However it used to be closer to Armenian separatists in Karabakh than ever and never spared its support through hands of peacekeepers. Like Russia, Iran also tried to stand by the failed states in the region, especially before nd after the 44-day glorious victory of Azerbaijan in the Second Karabakh War, and its South Caucasian policy died at birth. Most interestingly, having not taken a lesson from those countries, France now repeats the same mistakes. In other words, due to its blind love for Armenia, France goes the extra mile to deteriorate its relationship with Azerbaijan.

After Iran, Russia voiced that it intended to open a consulate in Azerbaijan's historical West Zangazur (Gapan), a mountainous and poor city located in the current Armenian territory. Recently, two MPs of the French Parliament addressed a letter to the Foreign Ministry of France to open a consulate in the city, as well.

In a comment for Azernews on the issue, the MP of the Azerbaijani Parliament Fazil Mustafa underscored that generally, a consulate is opened in a place where the citizens of the country live and for this, there is a need for certain paperwork. He noted that it is unclear who will use the service of this consulate. Besides, there is neither a university nor any important institution in Gapan where experts or students of a particular country are settled.

“So the reason is to support Armenia. There is no logical explanation for Iran opening a consulate here. Because there is no special demand for Iran over that territory. Also, there is no Persian-speaking population in the region. In other words, opening a consulate in the region means nothing more than paying rentals and bills such as electricity, water, gas, etc. Allegedly, steps are being taken in the name of protecting the territorial integrity of Armenia, but Azerbaijan does not intend to interfere in any way with the territorial integrity of Armenia. On the contrary, Azerbaijan is fighting to protect its territory from the barbaric, terrorist and occupant neighbors, and it has largely succeeded. The same words can be said for Russia. Its intention to open a consulate in Gapan is stemmed from the same reason. And now France shares this passion. It all stems from the intention to support Armenia. It has absolutely nothing to do with the importance of the region. As if they want to create an image that there is some danger from Azerbaijan,” the MP stressed.

Fazil Mustafa mentioned that Russia’s taking such a step is understandable in a certain sense because it has a strong influence over the region. As for France, it stressed that it takes such a step to show that it has certain interests in the region and that it has a say, and that it can take a more effective role in the security of the region. There is no serious aspect of this that interests Azerbaijan.

“On the contrary, it should be considered as a step proving these countries have a partisan position to a certain extent, and taking into account the fact that this country implements a policy supporting Armenia in future negotiations. It will doubt whether they will take a convincing position in any discussion. Therefore, it is a behavior that can affect their relations with Azerbaijan. Otherwise, Azerbaijan is not at all interested in the fact that someone opens either a consulate, or opens a ballet school, or opens a night club in the territory of Armenia, and in that discotek, Iran, Russia, and France dance together. Let them build whatever they want and co-operate there. The main thing is that if any steps are taken against our territory, the state of Azerbaijan will resolutely prevent these steps,” he said.

The MP ensured that all France's and other parties' pro-Armenian efforts will go to waste. He recalled France’s previous steps and noted that all of them were ineffective. He stressed that France shoots itself in the foot and due to its one-sided policy, France loses its little chance he has left to enter the region.

“In general, some behavior of France in this region has proven that it does not have such power. For example, France adopted a resolution on Karabakh, and this resolution remained only on paper. France sent observers to Armenia under the umbrella of the EU and still had no impact on Azerbaijan. Nothing will change in the future. This will not have a negative impact on Azerbaijan in any way. On the contrary, it will create fertile conditions for us to leave France behind the door in any negotiations. What is France doing there? If it is going to introduce a policy of friendship with Armenia or overtly support it in order to break France’s relations with Azerbaijan, then we will consider a conversation with France as a conversation with Armenia and we will see France as another face of Armenia. From this point of view, this will not have a negative effect on Azerbaijan, and until now, it tried to show a hostile attitude towards Azerbaijan from all sides and even showed France all the examples of political incivility. At the level of the media, at the level of the parliament, at the level of the president, steps were taken against Azerbaijan that threatened and called into question our territorial integrity to a certain extent. However, it did not have any result, because Azerbaijan is a strong enough state and is able to protect its interests with its character and determination,” Fazil Mustafa added.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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