Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry sends note of protest to French side

By Trend

Azerbaijan strongly condemns the illegal visit of French MPs to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of the country, reads a commentary by the Press Service Department of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry on the visit of French MPs to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

“This illegal visit to the occupied territories of our country, where Armenia carried out bloody ethnic cleansing of the local Azerbaijani population, and is now trying in every possible way to prevent the conflict settlement that requires return of the IDPs to their original places of residence, doesn’t correlate with the high values of 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' and the fundamental human rights that members of the French Parliament must adhere to,” reads the statement.

“It should be noted that this step was taken by the biased deputies, those influenced by the Armenian lobby of France, like Guy Teissier, whose name, due to his previous illegal visits, is already on the list of people whose entry to Azerbaijan is undesirable,” the ministry said. “The names of other participants of the illegal visit: deputies Valérie Boyer, Jean-Pierre Cubertafon, Mohamad Laqhila, Danièle Cazarian, Guillaume Kasbarian and senator Pierre Ouzoulias will also be added to the list.”

“In this regard, the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of France to Azerbaijan has been invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, where a note of protest addressed to the French side was handed to him,” the ministry said. “The document draws particular attention to the fact that such illegal trips seriously undermine the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, including France, aimed at resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations, and also damages the image of France as an intermediary in this process.”

“We once again call upon the French government to take decisive measures to stop the illegal trips of the parliamentarians from this country, aimed at consolidating the status quo based on the results of occupation of the Azerbaijani territories, and thereby to confirm the consistency of its impartial approach as a mediator in the settlement, guided by the interests of the proper fulfillment of its international obligations,” reads the statement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.