'We сategorically reject France’s claims' – Baku responds to Paris

Instead of learning from its failed foreign policy, France is attempting to divert public attention from its own situation by making baseless accusations against Azerbaijan, spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aykhan Hajizada, said, according to Report.

"We categorically reject such claims," Hajizada said in response to a local media inquiry regarding the accusations made by France’s Minister for Overseas Territories, Manuel Valls.

The spokesperson noted that unlike France, which continues to uphold its colonial past, Azerbaijan adheres to the fundamental norms and principles of international law in its foreign policy and actions.

While France chooses to forget its undemocratic practices against various nations and peoples, history remembers them well, Hajizada said.

He noted that at a time when there is a historic opportunity for peace in the South Caucasus, France's position, along with its attempts to fuel escalation in the region by arming Armenia, clearly reveals who is truly engaging in "foreign interference."

It is ironic that France, which accuses Azerbaijan of "ethnic cleansing," never condemned Armenia’s occupation policies that displaced nearly one million Azerbaijanis, despite being one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Process responsible for resolving the former conflict, Hajizada said, adding that now France falsely claims that Armenians who voluntarily left Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region were victims of "ethnic cleansing."

"This hypocrisy is nothing but a distortion of facts to serve France’s own interests," he said.

"We demand that France put an end to its baseless disinformation campaign against our country," he noted.