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Bernard Fassier: I understand Azerbaijanâ€™s suffering, being a Frenchman I know very well what the occupation is

09 December 2011 09:49 (UTC +04:00)

Paris. Fuad Gulubeyli â€“ APA. A roundtable on the themes â€œThe conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, forgotten conflictâ€ and â€œFrench co-chair of OSCE Minsk Groupâ€ was organized at the Senate of France on the initiative of Azerbaijani embassy in France, APAâ€™s Europe bureau reports. The activity of OSCE Minsk Group and the role of the French co-chair were discussed first of all. Member of the France-Azerbaijan friendship group, member of the Senate of France, representing the Orne department Nathalie Goulet, Azerbaijani Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France Elchin Emirbeyov, member of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh, MP Rovshan Rzayev, member of France-Azerbaijan friendship group at the National Assembly of France Jean-Louis Dumont and French co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier addressed the event.

French senator Nathalie Goulet said this conflict is not so known in Europe. Nathalie Goulet underlined the importance of getting familiarized with the ways of its solution and highly appreciated the discussion of this conflict at the French Senate.

Speaking on behalf of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh, MP Rovshan Rzayev said the Azerbaijani community agrees to live at peace with the Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh again. He noted that the representatives of the Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh did not come to the meeting planned between the communities in Berlin.

Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier spoke about the activity of the Minsk Group and the work recently done towards the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Mr. Fassier said though the group started functioning in May, 1994, the major activities started after 1997.
â€œThe variant of solution, which is now on the table, is the document on which we have been working since 2005. Of course, I understand Azerbaijanâ€™s suffering, the territories of this country have been occupied. Being a Frenchman I know very well what the occupation is, but it is not right to accuse Minsk Group of inactivity. We can not make the parties accept the variant of solution. The parties must reach an agreement themselves, and we must help them. Our main goal is to prevent the restart of war. In this status quo the war can break out again. Our second achievement is that the parties have sat for talks. Moreover, Russia is not one-on-one with the South Caucasus and holds consultations with France and US in the negotiations on the conflict,â€ he said.

Speaking about the Madrid principles adopted in 2007, Bernard Fassier hoped that the negotiations, which reached a deadlock after Kazan meeting, will revive from January on the presidential level following the statement issued at the Vilnius meeting. Bernard Fassier gave information about the diplomatic career of the newly-appointed French co-chair of Minsk Group Jacques Faure and noted that he knows the region well.
â€œI know Jacques Faure very well. In the Soviet times he dealt with the countries of the Warsaw Pact and knows the South Caucasus very well,â€ he said.

Member of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh, rector of Azerbaijan Music Academy Farhad Badalbeyli, researcher of the Paris-based International Strategic Research Institute Pierre Conesa, French historian Antoine Constant and representative of the Effective Initiatives Center Anar Usubov addressed the second roundtable entitled â€œForgotten conflictâ€. Famous French politicians, historians, media representatives, Azerbaijanis living in Paris and students attended the event. Photo exhibition on Nagorno Karabakh conflict was organized at the roundtable.