ArmInfo.Nathalie Loiseau, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, European Parliament has responded to Azerbaijani Ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva, who was critical of Le Figaro for its article entitled "Azerbaijan: Baku's great offensive to denigrate France".
In particular, Ms Abdullayeva wrote in her X account:
"Le Figaro, you still pretend not to know that Karabakh is part of the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan. For the first time in a long time, a just and lasting peace is possible. Peace needs truth; no false narratives. Le Figaro, help peace instead of seeking to destabilize the situation in our region."
In response, Nathalie Loiseau wrote:
"The ambassador of a country which does not know freedom of the press believes she can give instructions to a French newspaper. And forget to say that if the Caucasus is still experiencing tensions, it is its country, Azerbaijan, which is responsible. Armenia only aspires to peace."
The article entitled "Azerbaijan: Baku's great offensive to denigrate France" reads, in particular:
"The Caucasian country led by autocrat Iliam Aliev is increasing information manipulation operations to discredit the image of Paris, whose support for the Armenians it cannot digest.
"Has Baku launched a witch hunt against France? A young French expatriate, Martin Ryan, has been detained for five weeks in Baku prisons. His arrest by the Azerbaijani security services, who accused him of espionage, preceded the dismissal of two members of the French embassy in Azerbaijan on December 27. In the process, Baku asked France to " stop its interference in (its) internal affairs". The Quai d'Orsay, which considers this declaration unfounded, declared: "as a measure of reciprocity ", two agents of the Azerbaijani representation in Paris persona non grata. According to Open Intelligence, the tensions would be such that they would have pushed the DGSE to close its office in Baku.
"This episode is only the visible face of a war waged behind the scenes by Baku to denigrate France, several signals of which have appeared in recent weeks."