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SARKOZY'S VISIT TO THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
by Amanda Paul
Today's Zaman , Turkey
Oct 11 2011
Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited the three states
of the South Caucasus -- Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Since claiming independence 20 years ago, the region has been
plagued by numerous problems, including protracted conflicts and
border disputes, which have had a serious impact on the stability,
security and development of the region. With the French presidential
elections slated for next year, Sarkozy was hoping the visit would
help his dismal ratings by reminding French voters of his global
accomplishments.
Sarkozy's first port of call was Armenia. With France's vast
500,000 Armenian diaspora Sarkozy wanted to put on a good show and
he certainly managed to do this, really playing to the crowd. First
he underlined the great and longstanding friendship between the two
nations and secondly he sent a strong message to Turkey. He warned
Ankara that it may soon become illegal in France to deny that the
mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 was genocide,
calling on Turkey to make "a gesture of reconciliation" and recognize
the killings as genocide. He then went on to say that if Turkey does
not heed his advice, France may consider going further and amend its
legislation to penalize this denial and that such measures could be
adopted in a very short timeframe. And of course he reiterated his
opposition to Turkish membership of the EU.
Not surprisingly, Ankara was angered by comments by Sarkozy, with
Ahmet Davutoglu suggesting that France should confront its colonial
past before giving lessons to Turkey.
Next up was Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where he met with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and opened a new French Lycée. In
terms of importance to the EU, Azerbaijan could be considered the most
important of the three states, not least because of its vast energy
resources which are crucial to EU energy diversification plans. The
recent new discovery of some 300 billion cubic meters of gas in the
Absheron field, which the French firm TOTAL are involved in, has made
the realization of the mammoth EU-backed Nabucco natural gas pipeline
a more realistic prospect. France also has strong economic and trade
ties with Azerbaijan totaling some $1.8 billion which Sarkozy hopes
to boost further.
Sarkozy also urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve their dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani province which is currently under
the control of Armenia, with Yerevan also occupying an additional
eight Azerbaijan regions. The conflict killed over 30,000 people and
displaced over 1 million leaving Azerbaijan with one of the world's
highest numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Peace talks
led by Russia, the US and France have been going on for almost two
decades but success still remains out of reach. Armenia insists on
independence for Karabakh, something Azerbaijan cannot accept.
Violation of the cease-fire continues to be an everyday occurrence
and just a few days ago two Azerbaijani soldiers and an Armenian were
killed in a skirmish. As a result, high tension persists in a strategic
corridor for Caspian Sea energy transit. While Sarkozy stated that
"the time has come to take the risk of peace" it is more likely that
the status quo will continue.
The last stop on his tour was Georgia where President Sarkozy claimed,
"When I am in Tbilisi, I feel I am in Europe." The role that Sarkozy
played during the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008 has made him a star
in Georgia and not surprisingly he was greeted by cheering crowds of
some 30,000 people. He said all the right things by condemning Russia
for not complying with the six-point cease-fire plan which Sarkozy
himself was responsible for drawing up at that time. He accused
Russia of flouting the truce he brokered by building up forces
in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia instead of
withdrawing to pre-conflict positions. Russia strengthened its control
over South Ossetia and Abkhazia and recognized them as independent
nations afterwards.
While he said that "France will not resign itself to a 'fait
accompli'," it seems to me that this is exactly what France and much
of the West have done. It is no secret that Sarkozy has particularly
close relations with Russia's leadership and has done very little
since the war in terms of pushing them to comply because at the end
of day bigger issues where the West needs the support of Russia have
always taken priority. Therefore it was no surprise that during his
address on Freedom Square, he told Georgians that France considers
Russia a friend and a strategic partner who shares an interconnected
destiny with his own country.
He also assured Tbilisi that the door to the EU would always remain
open. This is quite a surprising comment given that at the Eastern
Partnership Summit some two weeks ago his foreign minister said the
opposite -- that the door remained closed.
Unfortunately for Sarkozy, it is unlikely that the visit will have very
much impact on his already very low ratings, which are most dependent
on issues closer to home, and in particular the French economy.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
by Amanda Paul
Today's Zaman , Turkey
Oct 11 2011
Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited the three states
of the South Caucasus -- Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Since claiming independence 20 years ago, the region has been
plagued by numerous problems, including protracted conflicts and
border disputes, which have had a serious impact on the stability,
security and development of the region. With the French presidential
elections slated for next year, Sarkozy was hoping the visit would
help his dismal ratings by reminding French voters of his global
accomplishments.
Sarkozy's first port of call was Armenia. With France's vast
500,000 Armenian diaspora Sarkozy wanted to put on a good show and
he certainly managed to do this, really playing to the crowd. First
he underlined the great and longstanding friendship between the two
nations and secondly he sent a strong message to Turkey. He warned
Ankara that it may soon become illegal in France to deny that the
mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 was genocide,
calling on Turkey to make "a gesture of reconciliation" and recognize
the killings as genocide. He then went on to say that if Turkey does
not heed his advice, France may consider going further and amend its
legislation to penalize this denial and that such measures could be
adopted in a very short timeframe. And of course he reiterated his
opposition to Turkish membership of the EU.
Not surprisingly, Ankara was angered by comments by Sarkozy, with
Ahmet Davutoglu suggesting that France should confront its colonial
past before giving lessons to Turkey.
Next up was Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where he met with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and opened a new French Lycée. In
terms of importance to the EU, Azerbaijan could be considered the most
important of the three states, not least because of its vast energy
resources which are crucial to EU energy diversification plans. The
recent new discovery of some 300 billion cubic meters of gas in the
Absheron field, which the French firm TOTAL are involved in, has made
the realization of the mammoth EU-backed Nabucco natural gas pipeline
a more realistic prospect. France also has strong economic and trade
ties with Azerbaijan totaling some $1.8 billion which Sarkozy hopes
to boost further.
Sarkozy also urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve their dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani province which is currently under
the control of Armenia, with Yerevan also occupying an additional
eight Azerbaijan regions. The conflict killed over 30,000 people and
displaced over 1 million leaving Azerbaijan with one of the world's
highest numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Peace talks
led by Russia, the US and France have been going on for almost two
decades but success still remains out of reach. Armenia insists on
independence for Karabakh, something Azerbaijan cannot accept.
Violation of the cease-fire continues to be an everyday occurrence
and just a few days ago two Azerbaijani soldiers and an Armenian were
killed in a skirmish. As a result, high tension persists in a strategic
corridor for Caspian Sea energy transit. While Sarkozy stated that
"the time has come to take the risk of peace" it is more likely that
the status quo will continue.
The last stop on his tour was Georgia where President Sarkozy claimed,
"When I am in Tbilisi, I feel I am in Europe." The role that Sarkozy
played during the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008 has made him a star
in Georgia and not surprisingly he was greeted by cheering crowds of
some 30,000 people. He said all the right things by condemning Russia
for not complying with the six-point cease-fire plan which Sarkozy
himself was responsible for drawing up at that time. He accused
Russia of flouting the truce he brokered by building up forces
in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia instead of
withdrawing to pre-conflict positions. Russia strengthened its control
over South Ossetia and Abkhazia and recognized them as independent
nations afterwards.
While he said that "France will not resign itself to a 'fait
accompli'," it seems to me that this is exactly what France and much
of the West have done. It is no secret that Sarkozy has particularly
close relations with Russia's leadership and has done very little
since the war in terms of pushing them to comply because at the end
of day bigger issues where the West needs the support of Russia have
always taken priority. Therefore it was no surprise that during his
address on Freedom Square, he told Georgians that France considers
Russia a friend and a strategic partner who shares an interconnected
destiny with his own country.
He also assured Tbilisi that the door to the EU would always remain
open. This is quite a surprising comment given that at the Eastern
Partnership Summit some two weeks ago his foreign minister said the
opposite -- that the door remained closed.
Unfortunately for Sarkozy, it is unlikely that the visit will have very
much impact on his already very low ratings, which are most dependent
on issues closer to home, and in particular the French economy.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress