Baku. Zumrud Pashayeva, Rufat Ahmadzada – APA. The Embassy of Azerbaijan in France has made an official protest to the French government, Spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told APA.
He said that the protest was made because of signing a Friendship Declaration between Major of France’s Bouc Bel-Air city Richard Mallié and representative of Nagorno-Karabakh separatist regime Narine Aghabalian.
Hajiyev recalled that France, as a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group, supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijan and France have friendly relations and cooperation. France is one of our key partners in Europe. But unfortunately, the Armenian Diaspora and their supporters try to cast a shadow on the friendly relations between the two countries. And this Friendship Declaration is an example for such steps. By signing such a document, the city’s authorities have violated the state laws”, Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev also added that documents signed between the separatist regime, established in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories, and other states, cities, or any organizations have no legal force.
“France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development systematically reminds French political figures of France’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh”, the French Embassy in Azerbaijan told APA.
The embassy assured that the French government has built no relations with the de facto authority in Nagorno-Karabakh and the self-declared regime doesn’t have any office which has undergone accreditation at the French government.
“France recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the internationally-recognized borders,” the embassy noted.
Note that, as part of her visit to France, Narine Aghabalian, a representative of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, signed a Friendship Declaration between the French city of Bouc Bel-Air and the Asgaran city of occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
/Apa/
