Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commented on unfounded allegations made by the French Foreign Minister during a joint press conference of the Foreign Ministers of France and Armenia on April 28.
“Baseless allegations made by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Catherine Colonna at a joint press conference of the Foreign Ministers of France and Armenia on April 28, 2023, are unacceptable.
We would like to remind those who made unfounded claims accusing Azerbaijan of intervening in Armenia’s territories that the side that has pursued a policy of occupation and ethnic cleansing for almost 30 years was Armenia. Unfortunately, France who has introduced itself as a party making “efforts” concerning the resolution of the conflict, has never condemned Armenia for its illegal occupation policy in 30 years.
We remind that the Armenian side has not yet completely withdrawn its armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, has not ended the occupation of 8 villages of Azerbaijan, and continues military-political provocations.
At the same time, interference with the establishment of a border checkpoint on its sovereign territory, which is an internal issue of Azerbaijan, contradicts Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Assessing the establishment of this checkpoint, which will regulate the regime of entry and exit from the border to the road, as a closure of the road, is also completely wrong.
Instead of demonstrating biased approaches, France’s encouragement of Armenia to fulfill its obligations arising from the agreements and deterring Armenia from provocations against Azerbaijan would be more useful,” the ministry said.