France has been pursuing an aggressive policy against Azerbaijan for the past few years. The main reason for this is the Elysee Palace’s reluctance to accept the new realities created by official Baku in the South Caucasus based on the results of the Second Karabakh War. As if in a trap, official Paris “sisters” with Yerevan to protect and, if possible, increase their influence in the region. This makes Paris’ biased position against Baku a necessity for this state itself.
According to the French Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs, French citizens are being persecuted and detained in Azerbaijan. Therefore, the Parisian official advised French citizens to refrain from visiting Azerbaijan.
Commenting on the unfounded claim, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Aykhan Hajizadeh said that the Baku official strongly condemns the strict travel warning issued by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs regarding the detention and attacks against French citizens in Azerbaijan.
He said that this unfounded and biased decision and statement by France indicates the intention of this country to further strain relations with Azerbaijan:
“This unfounded claim is a distortion of reality. So far, in Azerbaijan, only one citizen of the French Republic, Martin Rian, was detained on December 4 last year on suspicion of having committed the act provided for in Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Another French citizen, secretary Theo Hugon, was detained for his actions in the Baku metro.
It was stated that everyone is aware of France’s violations of international law, neocolonial policy, racism, discrimination, Islamophobia and restriction of human rights. Therefore, it would be more useful for France to learn from this activity: “We demand once again that France’s defamation campaign against Azerbaijan be stopped.”
If there were indeed persecutions and pressures against French citizens in Azerbaijan, official information would be released about this. Just as there were official reports that Mr Rian and Mr K. Teo were rightly detained.
The unfounded claim of official Paris against Azerbaijan is, of course, nothing more than an attempt to “muddy the waters” and please Armenia. France is showing itself to be friendly to Armenia and is trying to implement its directives.
However, in fact, racial and religious discrimination, including Islamophobia, is taking its toll in France itself. Moreover, France is distinguished today not by its literature and culture, but by its colonial policy and colonialism.
This rhetoric of France against Azerbaijan actually demonstrates the incompetence of the current government of Emmanuel Macron. So, if Macron were a skillful politician, he would have understood that the best way to stay in the region is to maintain good relations with Azerbaijan, the main political player here. And France not only does not do this, but also chooses the path of enmity with Azerbaijan. It can already be predicted that this rhetoric will have a boomerang effect.
As a result of the provocations at the Elysée Palace, the increased tension in bilateral relations will not benefit France. Official Paris will also open its eyes because it is completely “offside” in the region. Maybe it is time to show France a “red card” for “fouls” in football jargon…
