Azerbaijan sends note of protest to France

"We strongly condemn the illegal visit of French parliamentarians to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan," Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan said in a statement.

According to Report, the Foreign Ministry commented on the illegal visit of French parliamentaries to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbajan.

"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 settlement of the conflict, that requires return of the IDPs to their original places of residence, does not correlate with the high values of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” and the fundamental human rights that members of the French Parliament must adhere to.

"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 names of other participants of the illegal: 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 him. 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," the statement reads.