Baku called on Paris not to intervene in the arrest of a Frenchman accused of espionage
Azerbaijan has appealed to France not to "interfere" in its internal affairs after Baku arrested a Frenchman on espionage charges, and tensions between the two countries escalated, AFP reported.
Baku has accused France of supporting Azerbaijan's sworn enemy Armenia, both diplomatically and militarily, and of trying to stoke tensions in the South Caucasus.
French citizen Martin Ryan was arrested on December 4 last year, and according to the Azerbaijani authorities, he is suspected of "espionage".
Paris criticized his detention as "arbitrary", and claims Baku called it "invalid".
"This baseless statement is another attempt to distort reality and interfere in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Foreign Office said French embassy officials had visited the Frenchman several times since his detention.
The court ruled that he will be held in pre-trial detention for a period of 4 months.
Diplomatic tensions between Paris and Baku escalated in late December when Azerbaijan ordered two French diplomats to leave the country.
France declared two Azerbaijani diplomats "persona non grata" as a reciprocal measure.
In November, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused France of fueling the conflict in the Caucasus by arming Armenia.
Over the past three decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought three wars over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which was seized by Armenian forces when the Soviet Union collapsed.
In the latest military operation, Azerbaijan took full control of Karabakh in a surprise offensive last year.
The move sparked some international condemnation, including from France, but also hope for an agreement to end the long-running conflict between Baku and Yerevan.
According to a report seen by AFP in November, Paris has also linked Azerbaijani figures to a disinformation campaign aimed at tarnishing France's reputation as host of the 2024 Olympics. France is home to a large Armenian diaspora. /BGNES
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