The resolution calls on the government to “recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and use this recognition as an instrument of negotiations for the establishment of a sustainable peace.” It also urges the government to pursue a tougher European response toward Turkey, which has supported Azerbaijan in Karabakh the conflict, and an international war crimes investigation.
In a statement on the resolution issued late on Thursday, a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said: “During the [Senate] debate preceding the vote, Mr. Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State for Tourism, French People Abroad and the Francophonie, recalled the French government's position on this issue: France does not recognize the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”
“Our responsibility as co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group is to work towards a negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in particular on the issue of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the outcome of this negotiation cannot be determined beforehand and unilaterally,” added the statement.
“Our priority today must be to ensure the safe return of those displaced by the conflict of the past few weeks. In his address to the Senate, the Secretary of State further noted that no state has yet recognized Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Armenia was quick to welcome the resolution, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian calling it “historic.”
Azerbaijan condemned the measure introduced by several pro-Armenian French senators. The Azerbaijani parliament on Thursday accused Paris of pro-Armenian bias and demanded an end to French co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Azerbaijan’s military action in Karabakh shortly after the outbreak of the war on September 27. Macron has been even more critical of Turkey’s strong political and military support for Baku.
Earlier this week, the French government sent two planeloads of humanitarian aid to Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian residents displaced by the fighting.