The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in France informs that at the suggestion of the Deputy Mayor for International Relations, the Mayor of Marseilles submitted the following report to the city council.
"While there is an unprecedented health, economic and social crisis around the world, since September 27 we have witnessed the attack of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh, supported by the Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian groups, which ended with a ceasefire agreement signed on November 9 and not accepted by the majority of the Armenian people.
This land in the eastern part of historical Armenia has always been inhabited by the Armenian people. In order to break the will to liberate the Armenians, the USSR came up with a cynical initiative in 1921 to annex that the territory to Azerbaijan. The collapse of the USSR in 1988 prompted the federal republics to declare their independence.
As a result of the referendum, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, whose inhabitants have been called their country Artsakh for centuries, declared themselves an independent republic. This was followed by Azerbaijan launching a relentless war against this territory inhabited by more than 95% Armenians. The war, however, it lost.
The "Minsk Group" was formed on the international platform, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States to try to find a peaceful solution. Unfortunately, in vain. In 2016, as well as in 2020, after the July attacks, we are witnessing a new aggression by the Azerbaijani armed forces, which targets the peaceful population and historical heritage of Nagorno Karabakh.
Relying on the unwavering support of Erdogan's government, Azerbaijan makes us see that the "spirit of 1915", the first genocide of the 20th century still operates. There is a lot of evidence of violations of international humanitarian law. Infrastructures and civilians were indiscriminately targeted, and prohibited weapons were widely used, including cluster munitions. We cannot accept these war crimes.
It is our moral duty to unconditionally condemn this military aggression, and not to say again we did not know about that, as we did in the past. Adhering to human and democratic values, Marseilles has always been associated with Armenians in France and around the world. In the face of barbarism, they have always stood by their fellow citizens.
France and the international community must unite for the recognition of the Artsakh Republic in order to finally establish lasting peace and ensure the protection of the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh.
Beyond the recent ceasefire signed by the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan, we call on the French government to continue its efforts within the framework of the Minsk Group and to find a lasting solution so that Artsakh remains Armenian.
These are the reasons why we are proposing to the city council to adopt the next resolution.
According to the Code of Territorial Self-Government, the Marseille City Council accepts:
We demand that France recognize the Artsakh Republic. This recognition is meant to be a guarantee of the security and regional stability of its people and will be part of the final comprehensive peace agreement, one of the guarantors of which will be our country".
