Azerbaijan Expels Two French Diplomats Over ‘Incompatibility’
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Roshan Amiri
- . December 27, 2023
- . Update: December 27, 2023 1:00 pm
Azerbaijan expelled two French diplomats and gave 48 hours to leave the country over actions described as “incompatible with their diplomatic status”. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry didn’t specify the reasons for the expulsion. The French ambassador was also summoned.
The expulsion of French diplomats may have to do with France asking Baku for clarification last week after its cyber defense unit uncovered a campaign that aimed to undermine Paris’ capacity to hold the 2024 Olympic Games.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said the two employees of the French embassy were seriously protested for the activities that did not correspond to their diplomatic status. This was brought to the attention of the French ambassador Anne Boillon who was declared persona-non-grata by the Azerbaijani government.
Azerbaijan Tensed With Armenia
In November, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev alleged that France was creating conditions for a new war by supply arms to Armenia. He said France destabilizes not only its past and present colonies but also South Caucasus by supporting separatist tendencies and separatists.
Azerbaijan’s expulsion of the French diplomats comes as Europe attempts to mediate between Baku and Armenia. In September, Azerbaijan managed to reclaim the disputed Karabakh region. There have been peace talks between the two countries but no clear path.
Earlier this month, Azerbaijan and Armenia conducted prisoner exchange and released a joint statement. “The two sides were resolved to continue their discussions regarding the implementation of more confidence-building measures, and call on the international community to support their efforts that will contribute to building mutual trust between the two countries and will positively impact the South Caucasus region.”
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Azerbaijan Working on Bilateral Peace Agreement
Jeyhun Bayramov, the Azerbaijani foreign minister, said the peace process is continuing. He highlighted that a bilateral peace agreement would not mean a full solution to everything, but it could create conditions to define the direction and principles of establishing normal neighborly ties.
Russia is playing a constructive role in the Azerbaijan – Armenia peace process and is helping both countries finalize their work on a peace treaty. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said both sides declared on numerous recent occasions their readiness to compete the effort, to finalize the work on the peace treaty. Russia is ready to assist them.”
He clarified that Russia was not forcing anyone to accept its mediation services. Since September, Armenia and Russia have not been eye-to-eye, with Yerevan blaming Moscow for Azerbaijan’s offensive.
