France turns blind eye to Armenia's provocations and unjustifiably accuses Azerbaijan - MFA

Baku/28.07.23/Turan: The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations about "blockade of Lachin road" made by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs on 27 July.

In his comments, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizadeh rejected Paris' claims that the establishment of the Lachin Road is a violation by Azerbaijan of its obligations under the Trilateral Statement (dated 10 November 2020).

At the same time, France does not notice the presence of Armenian armed forces on the territory of Azerbaijan for three years and military provocations against Azerbaijan.

The French Foreign Ministry refers to the decision of the International Court of Justice, but forgets that it was the decision of 6 July that confirmed the full legitimacy of the Lachin border crossing point, while Armenia's demands for the liquidation of this point and the withdrawal of border guards were unanimously rejected.

The Azerbaijani side is obliged and authorised to exercise control and transparency on the border, prevent the use of the Lachyn road for illegal purposes, and prevent abuse on the road.

Despite these efforts, the Armenian side did not give up provocations, opened fire at the border crossing, made smuggling attempts and tried to send trucks to the territory without Azerbaijani permission, Hajizadeh stressed.

Despite these provocations, the Azerbaijani side through the ICRC created conditions for the passage of Armenian residents, and only for one day - 27 July, the passage of 34 people in 7 vehicles through the border crossing point "Lachin" was ensured.

Despite the fact that alternative routes, including the "Agdam-Khankandi" road, were offered to transport large volumes of cargo to the territory, the disrespect shown to this decision shows that the statements of humanitarian disaster are just speculation.

"In the realm of all this, the French side's refusal to see Armenian provocations and bias towards Azerbaijan demonstrates that Paris' policy is wrong.

Before making biased statements, we urge to think what such statements serve against Azerbaijan, to understand that they do not serve the cause of peace and stability in the region," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in its commentary. -06В-