A group of French intellectuals calls on the National Assembly, and more generally the international community, through its institutions, to assume its responsibilities, and recognize the independence of Artsakh.
“The decisive argument in favor of the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh is the risk of annihilation of the Armenian population. The ceasefire foresees that Russian troops will maintain the peace for five years. And after? Although it will not send soldiers, Turkey will be associated with these operations via a Russian-Turkish control center, the outline of a future military base in Azerbaijan,” the intellectuals say in an open letter.
Recalling of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and emphasizing that Erdogan has often repeated his desire to complete the work begun by his Ottoman predecessors, they state: “Even assuming that the Russian forces manage to impose stability for five years, the prospect at the end of this period is perfectly clear: another war and the completion of the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“As many international organizations and NGOs have documented, Azerbaijani statesmen, starting with the President, routinely call for the eradication of Armenians from the region. We can debate for a long time the best criterion leading to the recognition of a State. No one will be found more convincing than the proven risk of crimes against humanity and genocide,” the letter reads.
“I is time for this “frozen conflict” resulting from the collapse of the USSR to find its definitive solution, so that future generations of young Armenians and Azeris do not continue to pay with their blood the price of the inaction of the international community. This solution involves the recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the placing of its Armenian population under the protection of international law. This is the only realistic option today. Then, the serenity required for the opening of negotiations with a view to a long-term settlement of the conflict may appear,” the letter concludes.
The names of the signatories can be found here.
