Goulet - two steps back, one step forward

Baku/22.05.21/Turan: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov met on May 21 with Nathalie Goulet, member of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and deputy chairman of the French Parliament's Commission on Constitutional Law, General Electoral Law, and Rules of Government.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Bayramov praised her contribution to the development of cooperation between the two countries.

The minister stressed the importance of eliminating, through joint efforts, the obstacles that may arise in the development of bilateral cooperation, the diplomat noted the importance of mutual visits in this matter.

This meeting is very important in terms of learning about the situation in the region, Goulet said.

What is the meaning of the phrase "high contribution" in the assessment of Minister Bayramov is not clear.

Senator from the Orne department Nathalie Goulet used to take a slippery slope in France's relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

In January 2012, as the French Senate was making its final statements on the bill to criminalize the denial of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide, Radical Senator Nathalie Goulet said she would vote in favor of the bill. But before that, she had spoken out against the passage of the bill. "Armenians deserve more than to be just part of a campaign," the senator stated.

On November 18, a group of senators in the Presidium of the French Senate submitted a draft resolution No. 145 "On the need to recognize the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic," which was discussed and adopted on November 25. Goulet was among the supporters of the resolution. But she later told the Azerbaijani side her vote "against" was not counted due to an error in the system.

At the time, the only senator who voted against it was Sylvia Gua-Chavin, a member of the Senate's France-Turkey Friendship Group and deputy chair of the France-Azerbaijan Friendship Group. She is openly speaking in favor of developing French ties with these countries.

Now Goulet is babbling about the senselessness of the OSCE Minsk Group and the need for France not to co-chair it, thus trying to justify, to put mildly her indecisiveness at a difficult time for Azerbaijan and France relations.

The high-level reception given to Goulet can be understood to mean that Baku took into account her remorse and desire to return to the fold of friendly Azerbaijani-French relations, when the clouds over Azerbaijan have cleared.-0-