Official Baku harshly responded to the French Foreign Minister

We firmly reject the statements made by France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot on May 6 in the French Senate against Azerbaijan.

This was stated by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Aykhan Hajizade.

According to him, the French minister's use of the expression "Nagorno-Karabakh" in reference to the Karabakh region, which is a sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, is unacceptable.

"At a time when, following the just war waged by Azerbaijan on its sovereign territories in accordance with the norms and principles of international law, conditions for sustainable peace have been created in the region, we strongly condemn such provocative statements by the French side that call into question Azerbaijan's sovereignty over its own territories, as well as the preservation of cultural and religious heritage.

The French minister, who ignores the fact that hundreds of mosques and other examples of cultural heritage were destroyed on Azerbaijani territories during the Armenian occupation, comments on the issue of the demolition of certain structures remaining from the occupation period and inappropriately references proceedings before the International Court of Justice. This is a vivid example of a double standard approach," the MFA spokesperson noted.

Aykhan Hajizade emphasized that historical and religious monuments located on the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan are part of the country's national cultural heritage and are protected regardless of their origin, secular or religious affiliation.

"France's calls regarding the dispatch of a UNESCO assessment mission to the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan represent an obvious distortion of reality. It is Azerbaijan that has repeatedly called for the implementation of such assessment missions; however, unfortunately, their conduct has been made impossible precisely as a result of well-known obstacles created by countries such as Armenia and France. UNESCO itself confirmed this fact in its 2005 report.

Such statements by the French minister do not serve the building of sustainable and genuine peace in the region," he stated.