This Statement is an Attempt to Distort Reality and Intervene in Azerbaijan's Internal Affairs: Hajizade

The French side has refused to provide any explanations or cooperate regarding the investigation. This was stated by Ayhan Hajizade, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, in response to a question from the local media concerning the statement of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs regarding the arrest of a French citizen.

According to Azerbaijani media reports, “Moreover, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan sent a verbal note to the French Embassy in Azerbaijan to investigate the cooperation of the mentioned individual with two employees of the French Embassy, the French side has refused to provide any explanations or cooperate regarding the investigation. In this regard, those two employees of the embassy have been declared persona non grata by Azerbaijan.”

The spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s diplomatic office responded to Paris’s criticism, as the French government claimed, in particular, that the detention of French citizen Martin Ryan on charges of espionage in Azerbaijan was “arbitrary.”

“This baseless statement is yet another attempt to distort reality and intervene in Azerbaijan's internal affairs,” Hajizade stated.