Azerbaijan

We enjoy a good image in Azerbaijan: accordingly, France was the second country after Turkey to recognize its independence in 1991. Baku is grateful to us for France’s efforts in the Minsk Group to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict with Armenia.

Bilateral ties are marked by a large number of visits in both directions. President Ilham Aliev made his first bilateral visit abroad to Paris in January 2004. He made a State visit to France in January 2007. He went to France again on 20 November 2007 to meet with President Sarkozy (this was his seventh visit to our country since he became leader of the Azerbaijani State in 2003). Re-elected in October 2008, President Aliev made an official visit to France on 9 December 2009 (meetings with the French President, the Presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly and the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs): this was his eighth visit since he became leader of the Azerbaijani State in 2003.

^{Updated on 13.01.11}