The spat between France and Azerbaijan over former’s ties with Armenia lingers. On Wednesday, Baku accused France of pressuring and threatening the country after Paris recalled its ambassador and accused the Caucasus country of damaging bilateral ties.
Azerbaijan has slammed France on multiple occasions over what it sees as the country’s support for Armenia in a long-running stand-off between the neighbors.
“The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly stated to France that speaking in a language of threat and pressure will not bring any results, and once again declares that it will take all necessary measures to protect its national interests,” Aykhan Hajizada, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron recalled Ambassador Anne Boillon to Paris to discuss ties with Azerbaijan, the Foreign Ministry in Paris said Tuesday.
The Azerbaijan government has rejected France playing a role in mediating talks with Armenia over an elusive peace deal between the two ex-Soviet countries.
It has also criticized arms deals between France and Armenia.
Hajizada said that France had taken “open and explicit anti-Azerbaijan actions” and launched a “smear campaign” that had thwarted “the efforts to normalize relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”
Macron has voiced concerns that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s territorial ambitions extend beyond the Karabakh territory, which Azerbaijani forces took back from Armenia last year in a lightning offensive.
France, home to a sizeable Armenian community, is a major backer of Armenia, which is currently engaged in a legal dispute with Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice.
Relations between Azerbaijan and France have long been plagued by tensions focused on the conflict over Karabakh.
Seized by Armenian separatists in a war amid the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijani forces regained control of much of the region in a 2020 conflict and then the remaining part in the 2023 offensive. Macron and other French officials have long voiced concern Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will not stop there and has designs on Armenian territory.
In his meeting with Boillon on Tuesday, the French president said he “regretted Azerbaijan’s actions and expressed a wish for clarification by the Azerbaijani side of its intentions,” the Foreign Ministry said.
There have been attempts to move forward talks on normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but these so far have made little progress. “France reiterates its support for the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, while respecting international law and the territorial integrity of the two countries,” the French ministry said.
As relations with Moscow fray, Armenia is also increasingly relying on defense cooperation with France. In February, Armenia agreed a deal for the purchase of precision rifles from French arms manufacturer PGM, though its price tag was not disclosed.
In October 2023, France announced the sale of defense equipment, three radar systems and night vision goggles, to Armenia, provoking anger from Azerbaijan.
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