The France 24 website published an article which, according to the authors’ intention, was supposed to “expose” Azerbaijan and its policy towards France. Of course, the topic of elections was used as a prelude.
“Azerbaijan’s February 7 presidential election, which handed President Ilham Aliyev an unsurprising and unopposed victory with 92% of the vote and a fifth term in office, provided the backdrop for the latest illustration of deteriorating Franco-Azerbaijani relations,” the publication begins in a glib and “sharp” manner.
The French wanted to be ironic, but they hit the mark. The election results really did not surprise anyone, the majority of Azerbaijanis and those people in the world who are familiar with the region did not expect a different result – not because they suspected dishonesty in vote counting, but because they know how the people support Ilham Aliyev – the leader who restored the sovereignty of the country and, accordingly, the national dignity of its citizens.
It is difficult for the French to understand this, because real leaders are in short supply. Moreover, the last president, whom the French have elected twice already, is doing everything to deprive France of even the remnants of respect in the world.
Then the authors of the article complain that observers from France were not invited to the elections. Well, this is already, excuse me, impudence. In this context, we are surprised by the opposite – that once upon a time, it turns out, we did invite the French in this capacity. This is certainly evidence of Baku’s boundless tolerance. However, after the whole complex of Paris’ antics, some of which were simply offensive, it is quite natural that Baku was not going to tolerate such observers any further.
The author also complains that in general there are fewer representatives of Western Europe among observers. Journalists themselves have no idea how wild their claims look. Indeed, it has become less. And that’s great. Who said that there should be more of them, not less? Yes, gentlemen, be patient, this is called the breaking of the paradigm and the will of Azerbaijan.
By the way, presidential elections will take place in the United States in November.
How many Europeans in general, and the French in particular, will be invited to observe these elections? We suspect that it is zero. But you like to crowd into Azerbaijan with observers. Moreover, you are so used to visiting that when you see a closed door, you experience an existential shock.
However, the journalists then make a move and, we must admit, almost take us by surprise. We here respond to their offense, but from the next paragraph it turns out that it was not us who did not invite them, but they themselves refused to come. “The absence of a French presence on the observer team is the result of a disaccord between France and Azerbaijan. French parliamentarians who have visited the former Soviet republic in the past as election observers no longer want to hear about it.”
But wait, we have all the moves written down. You have it right at the beginning of your article: “What do the absence of French observers at Azerbaijan’s February 7 presidential election, a group denouncing “French colonialism” and an online campaign targeting the 2024 Paris Olympics have in common? They are three facets of a new offensive strategy adopted by Azerbaijani diplomacy towards France.”
So we didn’t invite after all? Or are both statements equally true, i.e. the French have decided that they no longer want to be observers at the elections in Azerbaijan after they were not invited to these elections? This sounds in the best traditions of comedy of the absurd.
The reaction of the authors of the article to the widely discussed video on Twitter, which highlighted the unpreparedness of France to organize the upcoming Olympics – a video that, by the way, gained millions of views – is also surprising. And behind the creation of this video the French “saw” the hand of Azerbaijan. Maybe it’s not Azerbaijan, but the fact that you are not really ready for the Games? The authors decided to keep silent about it.
And then the authors of the article reminded us of the spy scandal. And here the following passage deserves special attention: “For French nationals in Azerbaijan, the message was clear. ‘French authorities made us understand that we had to be careful because we could be expelled overnight,’ confided a Frenchman living in Azerbaijan who did not wish to be named”. I wonder what the French authorities called for caution in? Was it just us who thought that this phrase also smelled of something spy-like?
Further, journalists “nobly” try to understand Azerbaijan’s discontent. “The September 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, which resulted in Azerbaijan reclaiming a third of the ‘disputed enclave’, marked the beginning of the bilateral break. Two years later, in an interview with France 2 TV station, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that France ‘will never abandon the Armenians’”.
“This French support began to take shape after French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna’s October 2023 visit to Armenia when she announced that ‘France has given its agreement to the conclusion of future contracts with Armenia which will enable the delivery of military equipment to Armenia so that it can ensure its defence’. The announcement sparked disapproval from Aliyev, who accused France of ‘preparing the ground [for] new wars,’ after which French journalists waved their hands in confusion: ” Azerbaijan then began a diplomatic shift that increasingly resembled a 180-degree turn.”
So why should we be surprised, if they told us everything themselves? True, you forgot to mention how the two raging chambers of the French parliament in 2020 called on the government to recognize the “independence of Artsakh”, and in January 2024 the Senate adopted a resolution demanding sanctions against Azerbaijan. Or do you think that all the facts mentioned above by you and us, directed against the sovereignty of a single country, are not enough for this country to declare a boycott against you? By the way, we have not yet declared a boycott against you. And this despite the fact that the French government, judging by its activity, considers Karabakh as a “disputed enclave”, just like the journalists of France 24.
Further, the French recalled how on the Public Television of Azerbaijan children sang a song about Macron, which included the words that he is not the master of his word. Somehow we do not want to focus attention on this, but in general we would like to note that children usually do not lie.
Having told about how Azerbaijanis are not good in themselves, the French started to expose Baku’s campaign “aimed at denigrating France” related to its policy of neo-colonialism. We are also reminded the materials in Azerbaijani media against holding the Olympics in Paris.
We especially liked the following passage: “Aliyev himself used a speech at a decolonisation conference in Baku in November to deliver a scathing broadside against France. In his address, the Azerbaijani president referred to France more than 20 times, accusing Paris of ‘inflicting conflict’ in the Caucasus and committing ‘most of the bloody crimes in the colonial history of humanity’”.
That is, we understand correctly that in the Elysee Palace, they are sitting and counting how many times President Aliyev referred to France? I wonder who exactly is doing this? A specially hired secretary? Chairman of the Accounts Chamber? Or perhaps the President of the Fifth Republic himself?
However, just as the authors begin to accelerate in their expositional gallop, the article suddenly ends. We were spinning it this way and that way, thinking that maybe we should pay for reading the rest of the article, and were even ready to give a centime each to the editorial board just to read the coveted finale of this material. But no. The article really ended, and very stupidly – with a conclusion that Azerbaijan’s policy towards France copies Moscow’s methods. They said it and calmed down. This is a common feature of all liberals – the desire to make themselves look more favourable in front of the opponent by accusing him of ties with Moscow.
However, behind all this verbal tinsel one can sense, in general, undisguised anxiety. Baku’s actions on the anti-colonial agenda seem to be starting to cause serious problems for the French. In general, we are quite pleased to realize that the world power considers our country as a serious geopolitical rival. And the following thought, which we find at the very end of the material (neatly after the mentioned “exposure with the Russians”), seems not accidental: ” Perhaps COP 29, the 2024 climate conference to be held in Azerbaijan in November, will be an opportunity for the authorities to redress the diplomatic balance with the West, and France in particular.”
We, of course, could be wrong, but in this phrase, it seems, we can already feel Paris’s desire to make peace with Baku, which, on the contrary, is presented as Baku’s desire to make peace with the West. By the way, why such generalizations? We did not quarrel with the West. We have problems with you and thanks to you, madam and monsieur.
Murad Abiyev
Caliber.Az
