Mancel noted that the Foreign Affairs Committee have concluded that a special information commission be created within the committee on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and activities of the OSCE Minsk Group.
"I think that it is a very good idea because it will allow the committee’s members to get accurate information about the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to investigate the issue of Armenia’s illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts, and to reconsider the four UN resolutions that condemn the occupation of Azerbaijani territories,” said the MP.
By the way, Francois Rochebloine voted against the decision, according to Mancel.
“As for the information mission, it will operate as a group of 7-8 MPs from different political parties. The group is meant to gather information on the issue in six months and then prepare a report. The information is usually obtained from the group`s meetings. For example, the group can hold a meeting with the French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group or the Azerbaijani and Armenian ambassadors can exchange their ideas with the group, etc. In order to get more detailed information, the group’s members may also be sent to the two countries—in the case of such a proposal from the countries,” he said.
Mancel went on to say that he believes the reconsideration by the committee chairpersons of the French National Assembly the issue of establishing a special investigative committee on Azerbaijan will not yield positive results.
He stressed that the Foreign Affairs Committee openly rejected the initiative.
“MP Rochbluan become upset of failure and said he would submit the initiative to the committee chairpersons’ meeting. I think this procedure is unlikely to produce positive results. I don’t believe that the parliament speaker will vote against the committee’s decision,” the MP said. “The UDI (Union of Democrats and Independents) group will try to establish another investigative committee on other issue, but I think they will fail.”
“I’m very glad for disapproval of the initiaitve which would undermine our French-Azerbaijan friendship,” Mancel emphasized.
He said that the strong Armenian lobby in France is behind such anti-Azerbaijani initiatives in the French National Assembly.
“It is no secret that there is a strong Armenian diaspora in France. It is possible that they have some influence on the members of the French National Assembly, resulting in such undesirable initiatives,” he concluded.
On June 29, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly rejected the bill on establishing a special investigative committee on Azerbaijan. The bill was submitted by some MPs, including Francois Rochebloine, known for his pro-Armenian stance.
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