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Asim Aliyev

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Recently, France, which has been trying to undermine the national interests of Azerbaijan with its pro-Armenian position, has already led to the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the countries with its inadequate behavior. A few days ago, the summoning of the French ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, followed by the expulsion of two French diplomats from the country by declaring them persona non grata, can be an example of exactly what happened.

In fact, the aggressive policy pursued by the French authority towards Azerbaijan is still surprising. Regarding the expulsion of the French diplomats, it was announced that the activities of these diplomats contradict the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.

It is interesting that France, which could not accept Azerbaijan's rightful remark, tried to respond to it, but showed its diplomatic instability. Thus, the French Foreign Ministry called Azerbaijani diplomats persona non grata without giving any reason and demanded their departure from the country. At present, this step of France has certainly made the diplomatic relations between the two countries even more tense.

According to the political scientist, diplomat, and professor of Western Caspian University, Fikrat Sadigov, who commented to AZERNEWS, Azerbaijan gave French diplomats 48 hours to leave Azerbaijan, accusing them of undiplomatic activity.

The expert said that although the Azerbaijani side cited the reason for declaring two diplomats of the French embassy as persona non grata, France left the retaliatory step against Azerbaijan without reason.

Fikret Sadigov added that France itself is the main cause of diplomatic tension between the two countries.

"​Initially, the main reason for the aggravation of relations was the recognition of the so-called artsakh republic by the French authorities. After that, French officials made unfounded and fabricated statements against the Azerbaijani state. Subsequently, the adoption of a resolution against Azerbaijan by the French Parliament led to an even greater aggravation of relations between the two states," the expert said.

It is known that President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly condemned such double standards by France and its fabricated statements against Azerbaijan.

Despite the failure of its aggressive policy in the South Caucasus, the French authorities do not abandon their biased policy towards Azerbaijan. It is obvious that France unconditionally sided with Armenia and supported separatism in Garabagh, and this support continues today. Instead of welcoming the liberation of Azerbaijani lands after the 30-year invasion despite the four UN resolutions of international law, Paris is conducting an anti-Azerbaijani campaign. Today, the French government also plays an important role in fomenting revanchist sentiments against Azerbaijan by Armenia. The political aggravation of relations between the countries can deal a serious blow to the French economy. It is known that French companies "Total", "Alstom", "Suez", "Thales", "Danone", "Airbus", "Bouygues", "Iveco", "Sanofi", "Rothschild" have been working in Azerbaijan for many years in various spheres of economy".

According to the expert, if France crosses the red lines in relations with Azerbaijan, questions may arise about the activities of those companies, especially the largest energy and oil company in Azerbaijan.

"For example, Total Energy is one of the leading companies involved in gas production in Azerbaijan since 1996. The presence of this company in Azerbaijan has greatly benefited the French economy. Further aggravation of relations may lead to the withdrawal of French companies from Azerbaijan and the rupture of diplomatic relations," Sadigov said.

Fikret Sadigov added that despite the ongoing tense relations between France and Azerbaijan, diplomatic relations have not been broken. This is evident from the activity of the French Embassy in Azerbaijan, as well as the activity of the Azerbaijani Embassy in France.

"I think that so far this tension will not have a serious impact on the economic relations of the states, as the political tension is not so high to affect the economic interests and cooperation in the economic sphere. Therefore, French companies located in Azerbaijan will continue their activities," he underlined.

It should be noted that today, while speaking at the meeting regarding the final results of the year, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov touched on the mentioned issue and said that such a position by France is contrary to the norms of international law.

​"If the French state was sure of the innocence of its employees, it could have gone for it. There was no response from them. Yesterday, France declared two members of our ambassador's staff persona non grata. There is a difference between the steps taken by us and by France. We speak with evidence and facts. This unjustified step of the French side was another wrong step for this country," Minister Bayramov said.

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