French National Assembly approves decision on Karabakh

France's National Assembly approved a resolution Thursday calling on the government to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as a "republic."

After passing last month in the Senate, the resolution, which has symbolic value, was adopted in the Assembly with 188 "yes" votes against three "no" votes, while 16 deputies abstained from voting.

With the decision, the French government was called on to recognize the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" and to re-evaluate Turkey's membership process to the EU with its European partners due to Turkey's role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to the UN, Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory.

France has also been criticized for abandoning its neutrality and supporting Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as one of the Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group.

FRANCE CRITICIZED FOR SUPPORTING ARMENIA

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian rejected the recognition call, saying Armenia did not require it. He also stressed that if such a decision is taken, France will remove itself from the OSCE Minsk Group and give up its mediator role.

On Nov. 23, the French Senate adopted a resolution calling for the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as "a republic."

Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, is a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

It was occupied by Armenia in 1991 and has since caused a deep rift with neighboring Azerbaijan.

New clashes in the territory erupted on Sept. 27 and ended with a Russian-brokered truce six weeks later.