Azerbaijan, France expel diplomats as ties hit all-time low
- 30 December, 05:46
France has declared two employees of the Azerbaijani embassy as persona non-grata in a move of “reciprocity”, the French Ministry announced on December 27.
The decision comes after Azerbaijan declared two employees of France's embassy persona non grata the day earlier over actions that were “incompatible with their diplomatic status” and contradict the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Without providing further details, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry demanded that these two diplomats leave the territory of Azerbaijan within 48 hours and also summoned the French Ambassador Anne Bouillon.
Commenting on the expulsion of Azerbaijani diplomats, Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov said “there is a difference between our steps and the steps taken by France: we speak with evidence and facts.”
“This step of the French side, which has no basis, was another mistake of that country’, said Bayramov, adding that the relations between Baku and Paris were at the “lowest point in the last 30 years”. Bayramov did not explain the reason behind declaring the French diplomats persona non grata. However, earlier, the Azerbaijani media published reports claiming that the French embassy housed a network of spies that were working against Azerbaijan’s interests.
The reciprocal expulsion of the diplomats came amid tense diplomatic ties between the countries as Baku has accused Paris of being biased over the peace talks between Baku and Yerevan. Azerbaijan has repeatedly accused France, which is home to a large Armenian diaspora, of being biased in favor of Armenia in Karabakh peace talks.
