French Ambassador Explains Rejection of Baku's Invitation to Shushi

Following the response from the U.S. Embassy, the French Embassy has answered to the inquiry from haqqin.az's editorial council regarding the motives and reasons that led the French ambassador to Azerbaijan, Zacharie Gross, to decline the Azerbaijani government's invitation to visit the city of Shushi with representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in the country.

It is known that the Azerbaijani authorities had organized tours for foreign ambassadors to Varanda (Fizuli) and Shushi over the past weekend. However, the ambassadors of the U.S., France, and Russia ignored the Azerbaijani government's invitation, a position that has sparked public outrage in Azerbaijan regarding the stance of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“The embassy does not comment on the ambassador's schedule,” stated the official letter from the French Embassy to haqqin.az. Thus, the absence of the French diplomat in Shushi has been attributed to his work schedule.

Previously, the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan explained why the ambassador, along with over 40 representatives from the diplomatic corps in the country, did not visit Shushi, which is now under Baku's control: “We do not comment on the details or reasons concerning the ambassador's schedule regarding his absence from certain events. We would like to note that several representatives of various diplomatic missions were in Baku on Friday and were unable to travel to Fizuli and Shushi,” stated the U.S. embassy's letter.

As of now, the Russian embassy has not responded to the inquiries from the Azerbaijani media.