Azerbaijan rejects French Senate resolution on sanctions against Baku

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan on Wednesday rebuffed a French Senate resolution calling for sanctions against Baku and its withdrawal from territory liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020.

The resolution was "completely far from the truth, reflects false and slanderous provisions, and having the character of open provocation, serves to undermine the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia," said a statement from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

While noting that the resolution was not legally binding, the ministry said it once again demonstrated the "biased and one-sided political position of France as a country that has declared its intention to contribute to the normalization process.

"In general, all the far-fetched claims mentioned in the resolution are another indicator of the ignorance of its authors about the historical facts and the current situation in the region."

The statement stressed that the Senate had ignored Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani territory for nearly three decades, underlining that Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.

"The rights and security of the Armenian population living in this region are an internal matter of Azerbaijan, and these will be ensured in accordance with the Constitution," it added.

Relations between the two ex-Soviet countries have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted in September 2020, and a 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

A tripartite agreement was brokered by Russia to bring an end to the war in November 2020.

The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces withdrew in line with the agreement.

Separately on Twitter, Azerbaijan's ambassador-designate to France, Leyla Abdullayeva, said: "The French Senate resolution of November 15, 2022, once again shows a biased position away from reality on the ground, does not serve the process of normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and harms peace-building efforts in the region."

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the process of normalization between Baku and Yerevan during a telephone call on Saturday.