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Qabil Ashirov

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Azerbaijan has strongly condemned French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot for once again targeting the country with what Baku described as unfounded allegations during his address at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Global Forum on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy on October 13.

The statement was made by Aykhan Hajizada, spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to allegations made by the French foreign minister against Azerbaijan at the OECD event.

According to Hajizada, the accusations demonstrate that France has yet to abandon its confrontational rhetoric in relations with Azerbaijan.

“Accusing Azerbaijan of interfering in the struggle of the peoples living in New Caledonia and France’s other overseas territories for their rights is entirely unfounded. Unjustifiably attributing the positions of parties with differing views on developments in France’s overseas territories to foreign interference is an attempt to overshadow the will and concerns of the populations of those territories.

“French officials who speak about democracy, human rights and the rule of law would be better advised to focus first and foremost on ensuring the consistent application of these principles in France’s own policies.

“We call on the French side to put an end to unfounded allegations against Azerbaijan and to respect the principles of mutual respect, sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs in international relations,” Hajizada said in his statement.