Azerbaijani-French relations

France recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on January 3, 1992 and diplomatic ties between the two countries were established on February 21, 1992. On 1992, March 16, France opened its Embassy in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan did the same on October 20, 1994.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan paid his first official visit to France at the invitation of the President of France Francois Mitterrand on December 19-22, 1993. President Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Francois Mitterrand of France held discussions in Paris, the Elysée Palace. During the visit, an agreement on friendship, mutual understanding and cooperation was signed between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of France. President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev signed also the Charter Paris, one of the basic documents of the OSCE.

In his meeting with Heydar Aliyev President of France Francois Mitterrand said that France was concerned about the scalation of the Karabakh conflict and regretted the ufferings of civilians. He said that he was not for the settlement of the conflict by force.

On December 21, Heydar Aliyev met the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe. During the conversation the issue of the development and of contacts between France and Azerbaijan was touched.

In December 22, in the Luxembourg palase, Heydar Aliyev was awarded with the medal of honour of the French Senate.

In 1994-1997, President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev four times visited France: on May 8, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the victory over fascism, In December 1995, connected with the international conference on "Investment opportunities in Azerbaijan" held in Paris, On January 10-11, 1996, for participation in the funeral ceremony of Francois Mitterrand, and finally, on January 13-15, 1997, for his second official visit.

On May 8, 1995, Heydar Aliyev met the newly elected of France President Jacques Chirac in Paris. Congratulating the supreme guest on the occasion of the victory over fascism, Jacques Chirac said that he was delighted for the participation of the Azerbaijani leader in the jubilee events in Paris. During the conversation it was noted that investment of French companies in Azerbaijan played an important role in the development of the contacts between the two countries.

Visits of the French Foreign Minister Hervé de Charette to Baku on October 11, 1996 and on April 1, 1997, gave an additional impetus to the development of political relations between the two countries.

During his second official visit of the Azerbaijan President to France on January 13-15, 1997, a meeting was held between Heydar Aliyev and Jacques Chirac in the Elysian Palace on January 13. It was noted in the meeting that France, as an active member of the Minsk Group of OSCE will increase its efforts for the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict along with other states.

A $1,5 billion agreement on joint exploration of "Lankaran-Talyish oil" deposit and on production extrication of 350 million barrel sof oil was signed between SOCAR and the French "Elf Aquitaine" and "Total" in the Elysée Palace.

On January 14, Heydar Aliyev met the French Foreign Minister Hervé de Charette. During the conversation the issues of development of the French-Azerbaijani contacts and peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were discussed.

The following documents were signed during the visit of the President of Azerbaijan:

  1. Protocol on agreement on air transport communications;
  2. Joint statement on cultural relation;
  3. Agreement on free mobility. (http://www.mfa.gov.az/)

On January 23-27, 2001, President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev made his third official visit to France. During the visit, Heydar Aliyev denounced the adoption of a resolution on the "Armenian genocide" by the French parliament and said it would negatively influence the international relations.

Ilham Aliyev, who was elected President in 2003, also made his first official visit to France. On January 23, 2004, a ceremony was held on awarding to Ilham Aliyev with the Order of "the Great cross commander of Honorary Legion", which the national leader Heydar Aliyev had been awarded with. (http://www.azerbaijan.news.az/)

On September 7-9, 2004, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev paid a working visit to France. During the visit, President Ilham Aliyev met Jacques Chirac, French President, A.Jacquolain, C.Poncelet, the French Senate chairman, Koishiro Matsuro, general director of the YUNESCO. The first lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva was titled goodwill ambassador of YNUESCO.

On June 21, 2005, The French Foreign Ministry issued a statement which said that "elections" held by the separatist regime in the Nagorno-Karabakh region were illegal. (http://www.mfa.gov.az/)

On May 28-30, 2006, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a working visit to France to participate in the spring session of the NATO Parliament Assembly. During the meeting President Ilham Aliyev met Jacques Chirac, president of France and C.Poncelet, chairman of the Senate. Besides, President of Azerbaijan participated at the opening of the new building of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in France. (http://www.mfa.gov.az/)

The state visit of President Ilham Aliyev to France on May 28-30, 2006, confirmed that political relations between the two countries were at ahigh level. Ilham Aliyev met Jacques Chirac, President of France, D. de Villepin, prime minister, J.L.Debre, K.Poncelet, chairman of the French Senate and major of Paris and discussed a number of issues. During the visit eight documents were signed between the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Republic of France on cooperation in different spheres:

Joint Statement of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and President of the Republic of France, agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in the sphere of civil defense and security, agreement on cooperation in the sphere of tourism, protocol on cooperation in the sphere of museum affairs between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan and French Ministry of Culture and Communication, memorandum on cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan and French Ministry of Culture and Communication, agreement on scientific cooperation between the French National Centre of Researches and National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, administrative agreement on mutual cooperation between the State Committee on the Affairs of Family, Women and Children of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the French Ministry of Labor, Social Equality and Settlement, memorandum on cooperation between the national libraries.

On January 29, 2007, Jacques Chirac, French president, awarded President Ilham Aliyev with the "Order of Great Cross Commander of Honorary Legion" in Paris.

At the same time, on January 29, 2007, President Ilham Aliyev awarded Jacques Chirac with the order of "Heydar Aliyev" for his special services in the development of friendship and cooperation between France and Azerbaijan.

On November 1920, 2007, President Ilham Aliyev paid a working visit to France. President Ilham Aliyev met Nicolas Sarkozy, French president and Kristian Poncelet, chairman of the French Senate. Nicolas Sarkozy said that he was sure that the visit of the President Ilham Aliyev to Paris will make its contribution to the development of bilateral relations. It was stressed at the meeting that the contacts between the two countries in different spheres as political, economic and others developed successfully. The Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also touched during the conversation. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev spoke about the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan and said that more than one million of Azerbaijan were forced to become as refugees and IDPs as a result of ethnic cleansing policy. He stressed the importance of the settlement of this conflict only by the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. 

General historical background was compiled on December 3, 2008