BAKU: An Azerbaijan parliamentary commission called Thursday for the expulsion of French companies from the oil-rich nation, including energy giant TotalEnergies, in the latest deterioration of ties between Baku and Paris.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly hit out at France for criticising Baku’s Karabakh offensive in 2023, and for plans by Paris officials to help arm neighbouring Armenia.
The commission urged severing economic relations with Paris in response to a French Senate resolution that “condemned the violation” of Armenian territory, AFP reported.
The committee believes it is important to impose restrictions on France, the committee for international ties of Azerbaijan’s parliament said in a statement.
It said that all French companies, including Total, should withdraw from Azerbaijan and French firms should not be allowed to participate in any projects carried out by the Azerbaijani state.
TotalEnergies has worked in the country since 1996. In September last year its executives participated in the inauguration of the Absheron gas field with President Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan takes control of Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan took control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory in a lightning 24-hour military offensive in 2023.
The region is globally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but was home to a majority Armenian population and controlled by pro-Armenian separatists.
The parliamentary committee alleged Paris of being racist, Islamophobic, and Azerbaijanophobic over its response.
It also asked the country’s foreign ministry to take measures to recognise the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, as well as French Polynesia and France’s Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, as independent.
The moves were the latest signs of soaring tensions between France, a historic ally of Armenia, and Azerbaijan, with Aliyev accusing France of wanting a new war in the Caucasus.
On Wednesday, the French Senate adopted a resolution demanding for the right of ethnic Armenians to return to Nagorno-Karabakh, and for a UNESCO mission to ensure the protection of historic Armenian churches in the region.
