Tension continues to rise between Paris and Baku. France decided to expel two Azerbaijani diplomats by “reciprocity measure” after Baku’s decision on Tuesday to declare two French diplomats “persona non grata”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday, December 27.
Paris “categorically refutes the allegations presented by Azerbaijan to justify its decision” concerning French diplomats, accused without further details of having carried out activities “incompatible with their status”according to a press release.
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to France, Leyla Abdullayeva, was summoned to the Quai d’Orsay on Wednesday “to see these elements communicated to us”, specified French diplomacy. On Tuesday, Baku expressed in a statement “a firm protest against the actions of two employees of the French embassy incompatible with their diplomatic status”giving them forty-eight hours to leave the country.
In recent months, Azerbaijan has accused France of “destabilize” the Caucasus by providing aid to Armenia, Baku’s rival, of which it is a historical supporter. In November, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev accused Paris of favoring “new wars” by arming Yerevan, and had refused to go, in October, to a European summit in Granada, Spain, as well as to participate in a meeting with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, claiming that he had biased positions in favor of Armenians.
Baku and Yerevan recently announced their desire to normalize their relations and assure that a peace agreement could be signed soon, but the talks are making little progress.