The exploitation of the International Organization of the Francophonie (IOF), an organization with a mandate in cultural-humanitarian cooperation among the member states, by Armenia with the open instigation and support of France is utterly regretful, it has been noted in the Press Release on the failure of provocative steps of Armenia and France within the International Organization of the Francophonie, Paralel.Az reports.

The press release reads:

With the purpose of inclusion of certain provisions targeting Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity into the outcome document of an organization, to which Azerbaijan is not a member, France has openly abused its chairmanship status, brazenly violated the universally established practice with respect to the preparation of documents within multilateral formats and elementary rules of conducting multilateral negotiations.

As a result, the provisions that Armenia claims as adopted at the IOF Summit, in fact, did not get consensus, and reservations were recorded with respect to these provisions.

As a consequence, Armenia’s attempts to impose its fake narratives on the international community have failed even in the format where Azerbaijan is not a member, and despite the open support of France.

The said provisions, which were included in the document in gross violation of the decision-making rules of an organization that is supposed to deal with cultural-humanitarian issues, have no political and legal value, regardless of Armenia’s attempts to present this as a “diplomatic victory.”

Instead, the developments within the framework of the OIF should be considered as yet another manifestation of Armenia’s intention to target the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan at every possible opportunity, and France’s exploitation of Armenia for its narrow interests.

Azerbaijan expresses its gratitude to those OIF member states that despite open threats and blackmails of France, demonstrated unwavering adherence to international law and the humanitarian mandate of the OIF, and firmly stood against the steps targeting Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and undermining the normalization process.

Azerbaijan urges Armenia to abandon such provocative steps and demonstrate political will and responsibility to address remaining impediments in the way of bringing the normalization process to its logical conclusion, first and foremost, by amending the provisions in its constitution and other legislative acts containing territorial claim against Azerbaijan.

The Armenian side should make a choice whether to proceed down the road towards finalization of the normalization process or continue confrontation in all directions. Azerbaijan is committed to the normalization process it has initiated and continues to consistently take forward with a sense of political wisdom and responsibility.