French FM visits Armenia to reaffirm support amid Nagorno-Karabakh crisis

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is in Armenia to “reaffirm France’s support” for the country as an unprecedented influx of refugees flees the Nagorno-Karabakh region that was recently taken over by Azerbaijan.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, accompanied by Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan, visits the National Burn Center in Yerevan, 3 October 2023. © Alain Jocard/AFP

Colonna arrived Tuesday in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and was to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian before delivering “emergency medical aid” destined in particular to treat victims of a petrol depot explosion on 25 September.

France has increased its aid package to €12.5 million.

Also on the agenda is a meeting with Colonna’s Amernian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, along with some Armenian refugees who fled Nagorno-Karabakh.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Colonna would express French support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia, and "reiterate France's mobilisation in favour of a just and durable peace in the Caucasus and the respect of the rights of the Armenia populations in Nagorno-Karabakh".

Lightning offensive

Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive against Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh mountainous region, launched on 19 September, has killed some 600 people and seen more than 100,000 people seek refuge in Armenia.

Reports say most of Karabakh's estimated 120,000 residents have fled the territory.

• Nagorno-Karabakh will 'cease to exist' as half of population flees
• EU to host top Armenia, Azerbaijan officials to ease tensions

Armenian separatists, who had controlled the region for three decades, last week agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Baku. The move ended a centuries-old dream of reuniting what they view as their ancestral lands.

Azerbaijan is now holding "re-integration" talks with separatist leaders while, at the same time detaining some senior figures from its former government and military command.

Yerevan has accused Baku of ethnic cleansing – an allegation that Baku rejected.

(with newswires)