Earlier this month, Paris and Yerevan reached a military aid agreement.
According to Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, France’s decision to provide military assistance to Armenia could escalate tensions in the South Caucasus and spark a new confrontation.
Aliyev cancelled earlier this month’s scheduled discussions with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that were to have been facilitated by the European Union (EU) due to his criticism of the EU’s stance on Baku’s dispute with Yerevan. At the conference, Brussels declared that it was supporting Armenia in the local conflict.
According to a statement released by Baku on Saturday, Aliyev criticised the EU’s position, particularly that of France, in a phone conversation with European Council President Charles Michel.
The statement from the Azerbaijani president’s office noted that Azerbaijan “did not participate in the meeting in Granada due to the well-known position of France.”
“The head of state emphasised that France’s provision of weapons to Armenia was a strategy that was not intended to advance peace but rather one that was intended to inflame a new conflict, and if any new conflict occurs in the region, France would be held accountable for it,” the statement read.
The establishment of future contracts with Armenia for the delivery of military assets was agreed upon during a diplomatic visit to Yerevan on October 3. According to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, this will assist safeguard Armenia’s defences. Separately, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, criticised Azerbaijan, claiming Baku seemed to struggle to uphold accepted international rules.
Aliyev’s remarks come after Azerbaijan’s all-night military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh last month, which led to a large-scale migration of about 120,000 ethnic Armenians from the area, the majority of whom moved to Armenia.
Insisting that he had acted in accordance with international law, the president of Azerbaijan noted that eight villages in his country were still “under Armenian occupation” and emphasised the significance of their liberation.
Due in large part to the tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians who live within Azerbaijan’s officially recognised boundaries, the former Soviet governments have been embroiled in a geopolitical rivalry for decades.
