Why did Karine Lemarchand and Cyril Rouquet-Prévost visit the Azerbaijani embassy in October 2024 to promote a book? In this brief article, we discuss the implications of their presence among representatives of Aliyev's dictatorship.
In October 2024, chef Cyril Rouquet-Prévost, Michelin-starred chef Phillipe Renard, TV presenter Karine Lemarchand, senior French civil servant and Rungis Market director Stéphane Layani, and communications consultant Marie Sauce-Bourreau visited the Azerbaijan Cultural Center in Paris. The announced reason for their presence was the presentation of Cyril Rouquet-Prévost's book “Eggcellent”, co-written with Mireille Sanchez. The book features some 100 recipes from around the world. Instead, thanks to these exceptional guests, it was a great moment of soft-power for the Azerbaijani dictatorship.
Cyril Rouquet-Prévost is no stranger to the general public. In 2010, he was a finalist in the famous French TV cooking program Master Chef. Since then, he has published several cookery books, directed several culinary films, and consulted for brands such as Albal, Doréoc, Jacquet, Canderel and Intermarché. Quite active on the media scene, particularly since the publication of his book, he has been interviewed by the likes of Radio France, France Bleu and L'Est Républicain.
Cyril Rouquet-Prévost's presence at the Azerbaijani embassy in October 2024 raises several questions: why did he go there? Is he aware that he is exhibiting himself alongside representatives of a dictatorship that murders its opponents and is accused of recent ethnic cleansing? We can't answer these questions with any certainty (although we'd be delighted if he did), but it's worth noting that this isn't the first time he's taken part in events sponsored by the Azerbaijani government: in May 2022, he went to Shushi, in the “liberated territories” emptied of their Armenian population between 2020 and 2023, for the “1st Susha Culinary Festival”, as his website puts it.
He had apparently been invited by “his friend” Stalic - presumably the Uzbek chef of Azerbaijani origin Stalik Khankishiev - and via the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, an instrument of influence of power in Azerbaijan.
Are Cyril Rouquet-Prévost and the other guests at the Azerbaijani embassy aware that they have soiled their images and made them part of the Azerbaijani propaganda machine? This question could also be asked of other media players who do not hesitate to attend events organized by the Azerbaijani embassy. But in the age of the Internet and accessible information, the pretext of ignorance is increasingly difficult to accept. How, a fortiori, can we accept that an individual like Stéphane Layani, a former ENA graduate and senior French civil servant, would agree to visit the embassy of a state which, putting aside its other crimes, has recently attempted to destabilize France?
The potential role of Marie Sauce-Bourreau in organizing the visit to the Azerbaijani embassy also needs to be clarified.
If the Azerbaijani dictatorship is not to benefit further from the image of public figures such as Karine Lemarchand, Cyril Rouquet-Prévost, Stéphane Layani and Philippe, he and all the others must be exposed. Aware or not of the implications of his appearances alongside the representatives of a bloodthirsty dictatorship, Cyril Rouquet-Prévost has participated in the laundering of his crimes.
