French Lawmakers Demand Apology from Aliyev

On January 15, the French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche published an open letter signed by 242 members of the French Senate addressed to President Emmanuel Macron.

The signatories, in particular, demand that the president request an apology from the President of Azerbaijan for the controversial statements made by Valérie Pécresse on January 12, following her visit to Armenia as the candidate of the "Republicans" party.

“If we had been aware of Valérie Pécresse’s recent illegal visit [to Nagorno-Karabakh], we would not have allowed her to go,” stated the Azerbaijani president.

“Dear Mr. President, can we tolerate a situation where the government of another state prohibits elected representatives of the French people from traveling to an area that, let us remind, does not belong to that state, and threatens to infringe upon their freedom, up to and including their physical safety?” the senators' letter reads.