Bouchez: Paris doesn’t recognize separatist regime in Karabakh

PShe stressed that the agreements signed by the local executive bodies do not impose any responsibility on the French government for their implementation, and these agreements do not have any legal force.

France's ambassador to Azerbaijan expressed sincere feelings to the victims of the NagornoKarabakh conflict and their families, as well as IDPs.

As for the visits of French mayors to Nagorno-Karabakh, the ambassador said that Paris's position on the conflict is clear and unambiguous.

French Foreign Ministry also stated on October 26 that France "does not recognize the NagornoKarabakh Republic and the responsibility for the implementation of the agreements signed by the local authorities is not the responsibility of the French government, which does not have any legal value." As co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, France will carry out mediation efforts impartially between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry earlier declared its intention to include the mayor of the city of SaintEtienne, Gael Perdrio, into the “black list”, where Baku brings in foreigners who visited the territory of the unrecognized "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" without agreement of the Azerbaijani authorities. Persons from this list are not allowed to enter Azerbaijan.

In this regard, Aurelia Bouchez was called to the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan. She expressed dissatisfaction with the steps of the representatives of France, harming the interests, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Among other things, official dissatisfaction was expressed with the illegal visit of the mayor of Saint-Etienne to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The ambassador was handed with the official note of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Mayor of the French city of SaintEtienne Gael Perdrio illegally visited the occupied territory of Azerbaijan - Nagorno-Karabakh on October 21.

The French mayor visited the city of Shusha and signed a declaration of friendship with the "mayor" of occupied Shusha Artsvik Sargsyan.

The "Foreign Minister" of the separatist regime, Masis Mayilyan, and the former head of the FranceKarabakh friendship group, Francois Roshebluan, also participated in the signing ceremony.

Roshebluan is a former member of the French parliament. He has been on the black list of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan since 2015.

As a result of Armenia's armed invasion into Azerbaijan's legal territory, the two neighboring countries have remained locked in a bitter territorial dispute over the NagornoKarabakh region, which Armenia-backed separatists seized from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the early 1990s.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Despite Baku's efforts, peace in the occupied lands remains a mirage in the distance as Armenia refuses to comply with international law.