Azerbaijan has declared four French MPs who visited Nagorno-Karabakh as personae non gratae and has lodged a formal protest with the French Foreign Ministry. In Paris a sposkperson for the Quai d'Orsay said that the visit of the MPs was not official

The note, sent by Azerbaijan’s embassy in Paris, demands an explanation of the visit, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said on Tuesday.

“The deputies, who paid an illegal visit to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan and thus showed disrespect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, will be declared personae non gratae,” 1news.az reported Abdullayev as saying.

The French Foreign Ministry responded that the Karabakh visit was not an official one made through the French National Assembly, but a private initiative by Guy Teissier, chairman of the parliamentary commission for defence and the armed forces, Trend news agency reported.

Regnum news agency reported earlier that a delegation of deputies from the French National Assembly, led by Guy Teissier, had visited the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. The delegation included Valerie Boyer, Georges Colombier and Jacques Remiller.

Guy Teissier said during a meeting with representatives of the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh that they were visiting the territory to show their solidarity, according to Regnum.

source: news.az