Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s efforts to prevent the illegal activities of the separatist regime established in the country’s occupied territories have yielded results.

"Charters" signed by several French cities with the Azerbaijani towns, which are under the Armenian occupation will be canceled.

Hikmet Hajiyev, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman said under the ministry’s instructions, the country's embassy in Paris carries out steady work in relation to the visit to France of Bako Saakyan, the head of the separatist regime in Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, and signing of "the charter on cooperation" with the French provinces and cities.

A number of French communities have inked so-called charters of friendship with the local communities of the unrecognized “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” during the visit of Saakyan to France in mid-March 2015.

The signing of the ‘charters’ of friendship is illegal in accordance with Article L. 1115 of the Code of Local Communities of France. This step is also contrary to international obligations of France, which does not recognize the independence of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The French government sent circular to local prefectures and the high commissioners at the level of ministers of foreign affairs and internal affairs on July 2, 2015. The mentioned document, which contains a warning on boundedness of powers of local self-government bodies in the field of international cooperation, bans signing of documents on international cooperation with the illegal regimes unrecognized by the French government, including the self-proclaimed "Nagorno Karabakh” regime,” Hajiyev said.

The spokesperson further added that Armenian lobbying circles in France and several individuals under their influence, did not hesitate to violate the laws of this country and the commitments it has undertaken at the international level, thereby carrying out activities contrary to the official state policy of France.

Hajiyev stressed that Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry immediately takes under strict control and examines any illegal activities carried out in the occupied territories of the country. “If activities of legal and physical persons of any state revealed, the government instructs the respective diplomatic missions and the question is raised in front of these countries and the necessary diplomatic and legal steps are taken,” he added.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor.

Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing efforts by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have been largely fruitless so far. Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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