Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev accused France on Tuesday of “preparing the ground” for new “wars” in the Caucasus by arming Armenia, of which it is a historic supporter. Paris “destabilizes not only its present and past colonies, but also our region, the South Caucasus, by supporting separatist tendencies,” said Ilham Aliyev in a message written for an international conference being held in Baku , capital of Azerbaijan. By “arming” Armenia, it “encourages revanchist forces” in the country and “prepares the ground for new wars in our region”, he pointed out.
Conflicting relationships
Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain very conflictual relations, and tensions have been at their highest since Azerbaijan’s lightning reconquest in September of Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist territory that Baku and Yerevan have disputed for more than three decades. Before that, the two neighbors had already clashed in two wars for control of this enclave, one between 1988 and 1994 and the other in the fall of 2020.
France, host to a large Armenian diaspora, has been involved in mediation between these two former Soviet republics in recent months, and has also demonstrated its unwavering support for Armenia. The latter fears that the reconquest of Nagorno-Karabakh has emboldened its powerful neighbor, richer and better armed, and that it is now violating its territorial integrity. Paris, for example, announced that it had given its agreement to the delivery of military equipment to Armenia, which wants to better protect itself.
Disinformation
These positions earned France harsh criticism from Ilham Aliev. On Monday, he had already denounced France’s “very destructive role” in the Caucasus. He claimed that support from Paris created “illusions” among the Armenian government about its ability to “once again launch military aggression against Azerbaijan”.
For its part, Paris recently accused Azerbaijan of having led a campaign of information manipulation aimed at damaging France’s reputation in its ability to host the 2024 Olympic Games. Since the last victorious offensive of Baku, almost the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 100,000 people out of the 120,000 recorded, fled to Armenia. Peace talks between the two countries have been initiated several times, but have made little progress in recent times.
Engrossed by its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has seen its influence considerably diminish in this region in recent months and has, at this stage, not allowed the two countries to find common ground. Last week, Azerbaijan refused to participate in negotiations planned in the United States in November with Armenia, citing a “partial” position from Washington. The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, however, affirmed that his desire to “sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in the coming months remained unshakeable”.