Azerbaijan summons French envoy over Paris remarks on Lachin road

Azerbaijan has summoned the French ambassador to Baku over comments coming from Paris on the Lachin road, a land route which has seen tensions flare up with neighbouring Armenia.

A diplomatic note was handed to the ambassador on Thursday after French officials, including Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, accompanied vehicles sending "humanitarian cargo" toward the Lachin border checkpoint, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.​​​​​​​

The French officials also made provocative statements against Azerbaijan, the statement added.

Foreign Ministry statement called France's actions not only a direct interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs but also an attack on the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The attempt to send goods to Azerbaijani territory without prior agreements with Baku runs contrary to "the international legal framework regarding the sending of international humanitarian aid," it added.

"France has insisted on putting an end to the steps that are directed against Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity protected by international law, and that endanger the fragile normalisation process promoted by the active efforts of international actors in the region," the statement concluded.

Alternative aid route

Azerbaijan on Thursday said that representatives of the diplomatic corps in the country visited the Aghdam-Khankendi road, an alternative route proposed by Baku to provide aid to Armenian residents in Karabakh.

"We are at the entrance of Agdam-Askaran-Khankandi road. Diplomatic corps and (an) international group of journalists will see the functionality of the road and two trucks of food cargo consisting of flour delivered by the Red Crescent Society of Azerbaijan," Hikmet Hajiyev, an Azerbaijani presidential aide, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In an earlier statement, Azerbaijan’s Red Crescent Society (AzRCS) said that about 60 people, including diplomatic corps and international journalists, arrived in the area where 40 tons of flour had been waiting to enter the city of Khankendi since Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the AzRCS declared that it sent 40 tons of flour to Armenian residents in Karabakh through the Aghdam-Khankendi road. However, the passage of the aid was blocked by a checkpoint of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the area.

Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia rose in recent months over the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region, where Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint in April on the grounds of preventing the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.

Since then, Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of causing a “humanitarian crisis” in the region. Baku has vehemently denied Armenia’s claims and has proposed the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road for shipments to the region.