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Baku says Paris ignores invitations to probe into ring of French agents in Azerbaijan

According to Jeyhun Bayramov, this note was handed over to Paris two days before two staffers of the French Embassy in Baku were declared as personae non gratae

BAKU, December 28. /TASS/. Baku has invited Paris to participate in the investigation of a ring of French agents in Azerbaijan but received no response for now, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has told a news briefing.

"A note was sent to the French side outlining the facts, evidence and proof at our disposal. We invited the French side to cooperate and participate in the investigation of the activities of this ring of agents, but we have not received a response to this day," he said.

According to Bayramov, this note was handed over to Paris two days before two staffers of the French Embassy in Baku were declared as personae non gratae.

"Had the French authorities been certain about the innocence of their diplomats, I think they would have agreed to participate in the probe," he added.

On December 26, the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that two staffers of the French embassy in Baku had been declared personae non gratae "for activities that do not correspond to the diplomatic status and contradict the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations". They were ordered to leave the country within 48 hours. The next day the French Foreign Ministry declared two employees of the Azerbaijani embassy personae non gratae in a retaliatory move.

On December 23, the Azerbaijani media reported the exposure of a ring of French agents in Azerbaijan. This happened amid deterioration of relations between the two countries over France’s public promises to strengthen military cooperation with Armenia. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh earlier also accused Paris of a "smear campaign" against Baku, and linked the announced deliveries of military equipment with a "policy of militarization of Armenia."

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