The head of the French region is now visiting Armenia.

On March 31 he met with Nagorno Karabakh’s Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazaryan in Yerevan.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Wauquiez described himself as a longtime friend of Armenia and Artsakh and said that he’s shocked by the current situation.

“In 2019, we met with representatives of Artsakh and signed a cooperation agreement between my region and Artsakh. We’d adopted a political position in my region to confirm Artsakh’s right to independence, which led to serious pressures by Pan-Turkist terrorist organizations against me and my family. Why am I here today? Because I am well aware that the entire international attention is on Ukraine and there is a serious danger for Armenia and Artsakh to be forgotten in all of this. I am here to say that we are not forgetting you, you are not alone, and we shouldn’t allow the violations of international law in Armenia, Artsakh and Lachin Corridor to go unnoticed in silence,” Wauquiez said.

The President of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes visited the entrance of the blockaded Lachin Corridor in Syunik to show to his countrymen the violations of international law, that 120,000 people on the other side are deprived of basic human rights.

“I was with the Governor of Syunik the moment he was notified that an advance had taken place the day before where we were located at that time [Tegh village]. I have witnessed and can testify about the violation of international law. I have also seen the Azerbaijani flags hoisted on the heights located in Armenian lands. And I had the chance to speak with displaced persons of Artsakh, whose words were deeply touching. As a politician, it is my duty to take action and be able to help you,” he said.

Wauquiez said that they want to organize a humanitarian convoy jointly with the organizations representing the Armenian community of France and try to deliver humanitarian aid to Artsakh.

“The convoy will be organized with our region’s support and will bear our region’s flag. It will approach the Lachin Corridor and we will demand passage to Artsakh. Either the convoy will pass and we will have a ray of hope, or the convoy will be barred and it will give us the opportunity to present this issue before international and European organizations, that once again the international law is being violated, and that actions must be taken,” Wauquiez added.