Azerbaijan sends note of protest to France

By Azernews

By Fatima Hasanova

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to France, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On November 16, 2022, Charge d'Affaires of the French Embassy Julien Le Lan was summoned to Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry and handed a letter of protest regarding the resolution passed by the French Senate the previous day.

The meeting outlined that the French Senate's resolution reflecting slanderous clauses was strongly rejected by Azerbaijan.

It was stated that this provocative resolution adopted by the Senate demonstrates the biased and one-sided political position of France which allegedly intends to contribute to the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

This step of France aims to inflict a serious blow on regional peace, especially on the normalization of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations based on mutual recognition of and respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders.

It was noted that the resolution also completely contradicts the obligations under Article 2, Paragraph 3 of the agreement on friendship, mutual understanding, and cooperation between Azerbaijan and France (1993) in violation of international law norms and principles.

At the meeting, Azerbaijan once again strongly demanded France to refrain from making statements against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan protected by international law, and from interfering in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs.

Julien Le Lan noted that the appeal of Azerbaijan will be delivered accordingly.

On November 15, the French Senate adopted a draft law on the imposition of sanctions against Azerbaijan, based on Article 34-1 of the French Constitution. Out of 296 members, who participated in the meeting, 295 voted in favor of the project and one voted against it. The authors of the project demand that "Azerbaijan and its partners respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia, as well as the return of all Armenian prisoners of war".