Azerbaijan MFA urges France to stop smear campaign against Baku

“We completely reject yet another claim by the Minister of the Interior of France, Gérard Darmanin, against Azerbaijan and on alleged relations between Azerbaijan and New Caledonia’s independence leaders in his interview with France-2 on May 16, 2024,” Azernews reports, citing the spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aykhan Hajizada, as he said in the statement.

“First and foremost, we once again strongly condemn the French side’s insulting expressions against Azerbaijan and urge to stop the smear campaign against Azerbaijan with unacceptable accusations, such as the massacre of Armenians.

It would be more appropriate if the French Minister of the Interior recalled the history of his country committing crimes against humanity towards local peoples and the brutal murder of millions of innocent people as part of its colonial policy implemented for many years.

Moreover, instead of accusing Azerbaijan of allegedly supporting pro-independence protests in New Caledonia, the Minister of the Interior of France should focus on his country’s failed policy towards the overseas territories that led to such protests.

We once again call on France to stop baseless claims against our country,” reads the statement.