Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged France to avoid making provocative statements regarding Baku’s policy towards the Armenian residents of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region.

Commenting on the views expressed by the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, during her speech at the ambassadorial conference, Aykhan Hajizada, spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, said that such a “pro-Armenian position” does not serve peace and stability in the region and is unacceptable, the ministry’s press service told News.Az.

“Ignoring such facts as the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands for almost 30 years, the policy of ethnic cleansing of Armenia against Azerbaijanis, genocide and massacres, the presence of about one million refugees and internally displaced persons, the violation of their rights, the devastation and looting of cities and villages of Azerbaijan, the destruction of monuments of Azerbaijani culture, the destruction of our cultural values, the continuation of military-political provocations by Armenia after the 2020 war, the incomplete withdrawal of the Armed Forces from Azerbaijani territories is a vivid example of an illegal and immoral approach,” Hajizada said.

“Within the framework of the national legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, efforts are being made to reintegrate Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region into the political, social and economic spheres of our country, and it is completely wrong to make claims that a policy is being implemented in order to obstruct these efforts and expel Armenian residents from the region,” the spokesman added.

Hajizada stressed that Baku once again calls on France to put an end to its provocative and inflammatory statements.

News.Az