BAKU — Aykhan Hajizada, the head of the Press Service Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, issued a sharp rebuke to a travel warning from France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, which cautioned against travel to Azerbaijan due to safety concerns for French nationals.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, Azerbaijan condemns the French advisory as “severely” biased, dismissing claims of targeted detentions of French citizens as “unfounded.” “Such unfounded and biased judgment and statement by France reflect this country’s intention to deteriorate relations with Azerbaijan further,” Hajizada expressed. He refuted allegations of unjust detentions, noting that only one French citizen, Martin Ryan, has been detained under suspicion of espionage, a charge detailed in Article 276 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code. Another French citizen, Clerk Tego Hugo, was reportedly detained for an offense in the Baku Metro.

Hajizada also criticized France’s treatment of Azerbaijani journalists and accused France of hypocrisy in its promotion of human rights, citing “violations of international law, neocolonial policy, racist, discriminatory, and Islamophobic activities” by France. He challenged France to rectify its own human rights record rather than lecturing others.

“We once again demand France to stop the smear campaign against Azerbaijan,” Hajizada concluded, signaling a deepening diplomatic rift between the two nations over the contentious issue.