The topics of acute diplomatic and political tension that have recently developed between Azerbaijan and France, as well as the “symmetrical” declaration of French and Azerbaijani diplomats as persona non grata, sparked increased interest among journalists during a press conference held on December 28th by Jeyhun Bayramov, where the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister summarized the outgoing year of 2023.
Responding to journalists’ questions, Bayramov stated that the current relations between Azerbaijan and France have dropped to their lowest point in the last 30 years, and as the minister said, “this is a fact that cannot be hidden.”
In Bayramov’s view, Azerbaijan is not to blame for the current situation, as official Baku, despite Paris’s traditionally pro-Armenian position, has always been interested in establishing constructive cooperation with the French Republic.
“As you know, for many years France acted as a mediator in the resolution of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict and even co-chaired the OSCE Minsk Group,” the minister recalled. “During this period, our French partners managed to skillfully hide their pro-Armenian stance, relegating it to the background. However, after Azerbaijan liberated its territories from occupation in the fall of 2020, everything changed. At that point, France not only clearly showed its sympathies for Armenia but went further, adopting an openly anti-Azerbaijani position.”
Jeyhun Bayramov reminded journalists that Azerbaijan has already refused France’s mediation in peace negotiations with Armenia, and President Ilham Aliyev did not attend the meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Grenada, which was to be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Additionally, according to the Foreign Minister, Azerbaijan actively criticizes France’s colonial policy in Africa, also stating that France could cause a new war in the South Caucasus region.
Jeyhun Bayramov admitted that he does not have an answer to how long the current atmosphere of tension between Paris and Baku will last. However, since France is the reason for the deterioration in mutual understanding, it should take the initiative to reduce the level of tension, without which it will be difficult to predict the further prospects of bilateral relations.
“The current policy of France is based not only on supporting Armenia but also on conducting a campaign against Azerbaijan on all possible platforms,” emphasized Jeyhun Bayramov. “The reason is that France does not want to reconcile with Azerbaijan, which has restored full sovereignty over its territories. France has made numerous attempts to organize discussions against Azerbaijan in the UN Security Council and achieve the adoption of some anti-Azerbaijani resolutions. Many of these attempts are not known to the public. I want to point out how, in many cases, France took the initiative to organize discussions against Azerbaijan even without a written appeal from Armenia to the UN Security Council.”
