Ref: 0603/12/24/02
Brussels, September 18, 2024
Mr. Dorian de Meeûs
Editor-in-chief of La Libre Belgique
Brussels
Dear Mr. de Meeûs,
On September 11, former journalist and current Belgian MP Michel De Maegd published a rather sharp and subjective op-ed in your newspaper, attacking my country, Azerbaijan, with deliberately false information and slander.
In this regard, I would like to send you the response from the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium and kindly request that you publish it promptly on Lalibre.be.
A journalist, even if he is no longer one, should always verify his sources and continue to cross-check the elements he presents with greater professionalism. This is especially true for someone who, as some circles in Belgium claim, harbors ministerial ambitions in a new government of this country.
In his “opinion” titled “How Ilham Aliyev and His Big Brother Vladimir Putin Stir Separatism in Europe,” De Maegd suggests that a grand political and diplomatic maneuver, orchestrated from distant Baku, is underway to destabilize several states in Europe, starting with France, and thereby the entire European Union (!). This ascribes to my country intentions well beyond its capacity to act, even if it had such a desire. Accusing Baku of working towards separatism in France seems rather far-fetched, considering how France itself is plagued by slow and longstanding communal issues, which Azerbaijan does not experience. How could Baku seriously influence territories under French sovereignty by encouraging them to seek independence? This would imply that France is a very fragile state, which it is not, and thus this country obviously does not need De Maegd’s “moral support.”
This would mean viewing the traditionally Jacobin and centralized French state as completely incapable of maintaining order in all these territories today. Is that serious? Obviously, the objective of several influential actors for months has been to associate Azerbaijan with the meddling practices of Russia, which we condemn.
De Maegd has absolutely no proof for what he says. While it is true that relations between Azerbaijan and France have been poor for several years, there is no point in hiding it; this is primarily because Emmanuel Macron, whose country is a member of the defunct Minsk Group of the OSCE, which has been striving since 1992 for equitable peace in the South Caucasus with Russia and the United States, has completely resigned himself to being influenced and absorbed by the extremely powerful pro-Armenian lobby in the country. To the extent that the author of the op-ed, who ascribes a “fraternal relationship” between Putin and Aliyev in his dissemination of “fake news,” forgets to mention that the two most powerful and stable allies of Armenia for years have been Russia and Iran, which provide Erevan with financial, energy, transportation, and military support.
France has chosen Armenia without reservation in recent years: but this is a serious mistake, because in this case, beyond the breach of neutrality it should exhibit, it denies the enormous efforts made by President Aliyev together with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to resolve existing disputes between the two countries, before hopefully signing a definitive peace agreement in the coming months.
In addition to slander, De Maegd’s words sow division, while both peoples wish to look towards the future and think about a common future in the region. Only regional cooperation and joint projects will allow for the construction of this long-awaited peace. Despite this, France is currently supplying large volumes of arms to Armenia, thereby contributing to more tensions and complications since then.
Finally, as the MP notes in his text, Azerbaijan did not initiate an unjustified or illegal war in November 2020: it patiently awaited 28 years of Armenian occupation of twenty percent of Azerbaijan’s territory before reclaiming that territory recognized as sovereign Azerbaijani territory by no fewer than four UN Security Council resolutions and numerous other international legal documents. And for nearly 30 years, the cultural, historical, and religious heritage of this Azerbaijani region has been destroyed by Armenian occupiers.
De Maegd knows this very well because he is one of the most virulent pro-Armenian lobbyists in Belgium who has maintained “fraternal relations” even with Armenian ethnic entities based in Belgium that are not welcome in Armenia itself.
Michel De Maegd should reread his classics and delve into the recent history of the Caucasus before publishing unfounded texts for a narrative whose motives remain unclear.
Please accept, Mr. de Meeûs, the expression of my sincere greetings.
Ambassador Vaqif Sadıqov
