Azerbaijan slams new French parliamentary resolution as ‘provocation’

ISTANBUL (AA) – Slamming a new French resolution on what Paris calls “aggression” against Armenia, Azerbaijan has called the move “another provocation by France.”

“The false and slanderous anti-Azerbaijan resolution adopted in the lower chamber (National Assembly) of the French Parliament on November 30, 2022 is another provocation by France against Azerbaijan, similar to the recent resolution adopted in the Senate,” said an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement.

The statement says the resolution “aims to undermine the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as efforts to establish peace and stability in the region.”

“This resolution, contrary to the norms and principles of international law, once again clearly demonstrates France’s biased political position, and its inability to act as an impartial and fair mediator,” the statement added.

Rejecting the resolutions in both French chambers, Azerbaijan accused Paris of “biased intentions.”

“Armenia occupied the territory of Azerbaijan for 30 years,” wrote Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva, referring to Armenia’s decades-long occupation of Karabakh, which Azerbaijan forces largely recaptured in a fall 2020 conflict.

“It has committed war crimes and devastated the region by trampling on the fundamental rights of nearly a million Azerbaijanis. You, on the other hand, remain silent, (and) now you are hindering peace by talking.”

On November 16, Azerbaijan rebuffed a French Senate resolution calling for sanctions against Baku and its withdrawal from territory liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020.