Azeri FM calls for immediate settlement of Karabakh conflict

PanARMENIAN.Net - If France continues to back Armenia, its membership in OSCE Minsk Group will cease making sense, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov said.

Mammadyarov deemed French Senate’s position on the Armenian Genocide bill unacceptable, noting that debate of the issue by politicians may bring about a retroaction.

In this context, Azerbaijani official stressed the need for France to recognize the so-called “Khojalu genocide.”

He further called for immediate settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, whilst urging EU to take the initiative in face of OSCE MG’s inability to resolve the issue over the past 20 years.

“Azerbaijan fully backs Turkey’s accession to the EU, as it will contribute to establishment of stability in the Caucasus and Karabakh resolution,” Mammadyarov told Turkish ABhaber agency.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. Expected to be signed into law by President within 14 days, the bill will impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation - from both the Senate and the lower house - said they had formally requested the constitutional council examine the law. The groups said they each had gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required to ask the council to test the law's constitutionality. The council is obliged to deliver its judgment within a month, but this can be reduced to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.