Deliveries of French lethal weapons to Armenia are contrary to … – AzerNews.Az

By Abdul Karimkhanov

Deliveries of French lethal weapons to Armenia are contrary tothe interests of NATO. The last time Armenia received weapons fromFrance was after the visit of Armenian Defense Minister SurenPapikyan to Paris in September 2022. Besides, France is expected tosupply Armenia with Mistral air defense systems, among other modernweapons.

"In my understanding, the problem lies in the thin smokescreen.France considers Armenia as a Christian enclave among the states inwhich the majority of the population belongs to the number ofMuslims. Therefore, military supplies to Armenia should be assessedas an attempt to appease the Armenian diaspora in France andsupposedly protect French interests rooted in Islamophobia,"well-known British journalist, political analyst Neil Watson saidthis in an interview with Azerbaijan based Day.Az analyticalwebsite, Azernews reports.

As the journalist emphasized, France turns a blind eye to thefact that Armenia is a satellite of Russia and a Russian militarybase is located on the territory of Armenia. The political analystdid not also rule out Iran factor in this circle and France'sslurring over this matter.

"Furthermore, France is overlooking Armenia's long-establishedalliance with Iran, which wants to suppress the aspirations ofsouthern Azerbaijanis for independence. The supply of Frenchweapons to Armenia also contradicts the interests of Israel andTurkiye, Azerbaijan's two largest allies and arms suppliers,"Watson said.

The journalist believes that France is not set exclusivelyagainst Azerbaijan, despite attempts to impose sanctions lastyear.

"Rather, Turkophobic and Islamophobic sentiments prevail inFrance, while French interests in the South Caucasus and in thewider post-Soviet space are represented by Armenia. The influenceof the Armenian lobby in the French Senate remains overwhelming andArmenian propaganda is taken in France for some proof," thepolitical analyst emphasized.

According to him, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan facesa big dilemma - whether to prolong the peace process or to finalizepeace talks with Azerbaijan as well as to normalize relations withAzerbaijan and Turkiye.

"Pashinyan has an almost impossible task, andthere are questions as to whether he is a strong enough politicalpersonality with sufficient internal and external political supportto achieve the objective that he knows is necessary: peace withAzerbaijan and normalisation of relations with Azerbaijan andTurkiye. He has internal support for the Karabakh occupation toretain, the Armenian diaspora to placate and has to maintain thesupport of maternal Russia and fraternal Iran. He has to be seen tobe tough on Azerbaijan and to be as obstreperous as possible. Butultimately acceptance of these weapons is posturing. He knows that,sooner or later, and possibly not under his premiership, a peacedeal needs to be finalised, the journalist concluded.

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