The Interview

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan talks about the reignited conflict in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan accuses Turkey of inciting the military campaign, and denounces what he calls an "ethnic cleansing" against the people in the region. “Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh are facing an existential threat,” he says, urging the international community to recognise the region’s right to independence.

Who are we, and where did we come from? These are the questions Yuval Noah Harari, historian and philosopher, attempts to answer in the first volume of the graphic edition of his bestselling book: “Sapiens, the birth of human kind”. If our guest goes back in time, it’s to help his readers understand the challenges of our present: against the backdrop of the ongoing crisis, the world community needs to come up with a global response, and urgently keep its trust in the scientific truth.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev spoke to FRANCE 24 from the country's capital of Baku while the conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to escalate. Aliyev denied any deliberate attack on civilians from Azerbaijan’s side and described reports of Turkish military involvement as “fake news”.

The Interview welcomed the former UN special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salamé. He discussed the tragic explosion that shook Beirut and urged the Lebanese to form a new government as soon as possible. He appeared optimistic about the peace negotiations in Libya, considering that "the situation has never been so propitious for a solution of the Libyan crisis". Regarding the American election, he is worried about Trump's contempt for multilateralism, wishing for "a more multilateralist approach from the largest nation on earth".

In an interview with FRANCE 24 in Niamey, Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou confirmed he does not plan to seek a third term in December's presidential vote. "The elections will be free and transparent," he vowed, insisting on the importance of having "strong democratic institutions".

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Dennis Ross, a former top US adviser on the Middle East, reacted to the recent agreements signed between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain. Ross said he believes the two Gulf states did not betray the Palestinian cause but merely decided to pursue their own national interests. He stressed, however, that the UAE had obtained in return an Israeli decision not to annex the West Bank. He added that West Bank annexation was now "off the table" because both US President Donald Trump and his election challenger Joe Biden have endorsed that position.