The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on Thursday said that a new French resolution designed to counter what Paris calls "aggression" against Armenia is undermining the normalization process between Baku and Yerevan.
"The false and slanderous anti-Azerbaijan resolution adopted in the lower chamber (National Assembly) of the French Parliament on November 30, 2022 is another provocation by France against Azerbaijan, similar to the recent resolution adopted in the Senate," said an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement.
The statement says the resolution "aims to undermine the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as efforts to establish peace and stability in the region."
"This resolution, contrary to the norms and principles of international law, once again clearly demonstrates France's biased political position, and its inability to act as an impartial and fair mediator," the statement added.
Rejecting the resolutions in both French chambers, Baku accused Paris of "biased intentions," criticizing it for not working to resolve the conflict instead.
"Armenia occupied the territory of Azerbaijan for 30 years," wrote Azerbaijan's Ambassador to France Leyla Abdullayeva on Twitter, referring to Armenia's decadeslong occupation of Karabakh, which Azerbaijani forces largely recaptured in a fall 2020 conflict.
"It has committed war crimes and devastated the region by trampling on the fundamental rights of nearly a million Azerbaijanis. You, on the other hand, remain silent, (and) now you are hindering peace by talking."
On Nov. 16, Azerbaijan rebuffed a French Senate resolution calling for sanctions against Baku and its withdrawal from territory liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions.
Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia. However, the cease-fire has been broken several times since then.
Renewed conflict
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that the country’s military positions in the Shusha and Aghdam districts of the Karabakh region were attacked by members of an "Armenian armed detachment."
"On Nov. 30, starting from 14:40 to 15:50, members of an illegal Armenian armed detachment in the territory of Azerbaijan ... using various caliber weapons subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the directions of the Shusha and Aghdam regions," an Azerbaijani Defense Ministry statement said.
The attack was carried out from the areas where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, according to the ministry.
"The Azerbaijan Army Units stationed in these directions took adequate retaliatory measures," the statement added.
Earlier, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that Armenian forces opened fire at positions in the Kalbajar and Lachin districts at midnight. It said that the Aghdam district was also attacked by an "Armenian armed detachment" with various caliber weapons on Tuesday.