French lawmaker Valerie Boyer

PARIS—French lawmaker Valérie Boyer wrote in an article in the French publication Valeurs Actuelles that given Azerbaijan’s continued threats and plunge into dictatorship, the time has come for the international recognition of the “de facto independent Nagorno Karabakh Republic.”

“The Nagorno Karabakh Republic has been de facto independent for nearly twenty-five years. For 25 years it has been striving to make each day more democratic, while Azerbaijan sinks into the most desperate dictatorship,” Boyed explains in the article.

“The international community believed that postponing the question of the political status of Nagorno-Karabakh would favor negotiations and the establishment of peace. Experience shows, however, that it is not so and it only encourages the bellicose fervor of Baku. We must put an end to this situation. We must now recognize Nagorno-Karabakh,” asserts Boyer.

In the article, Boyer also recounted the major offensive launched by Azerbaijani forces on the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on April 2, in what has become the worst escalation since the conclusion of cease-fire in 1994.

“Azerbaijan has mobilized assaults tanks, combat helicopters, drones and even Grad missiles that targeted the cities of Nagorno-Karabakh and caused casualties among civilians, including children. The attack has been pushed back and dictator Aliyev had to agree on a ceasefire. With more than 200 dead, about twenty tanks destroyed and no territorial gain, this inept offensive has indeed shown the military weakness of Azerbaijan,” Boyer writes.

“Why is it that Azerbaijan, which is teeming in petrodollars, is unable to triumph over tiny Nagorno- Karabakh? Because no one in Azerbaijan, except [Azerbaijan’s President Ilham] Aliyev is interested in waging war,” the lawmaker writes.

Boyer is a Member of French National Assembly. She represents the Bouches-du-Rhône department and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.