Azerbaijan

French presence

Embassy of France: Baku
Consulate of France: Embassy Consular Section
French community in Azerbaijan: 177 people were registered at the Consulate in May 2026 

Visits

Presidential visits

• 11-13 March 2019: Visit to France by the First Vice President of Azerbaijan
• 20 July 2018: Visit to France by the Azerbaijani President
• 14 March 2017: Visit to Azerbaijan by the French President
• 25 April 2015: Visit to Azerbaijan by the French President

Ministerial visits 

• 27 April 2023: Visit to Azerbaijan by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
• 10 November 2021: Visit to France by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
• 25 January 2021: Visit to Azerbaijan by the Minister of State for Tourism, French Nationals Abroad and Francophonie, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
• 29 July 2019: Visit to Azerbaijan by the Minister of the Economy and Finance
• 17 May 2019: Visit to France by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
• 27 May 2018: Visit to Azerbaijan by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
• 16-17 January 2018: Visit to France by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
   

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

The French-Azerbaijani University (UFAZ) is the cornerstone of our bilateral cooperation in the field of education and science. The UFAZ has 700 students enrolled (30% of whom are women). It celebrated the 10th anniversary of its founding in 2026.

1,084 Azerbaijani students were enrolled in French higher education institutions during the 2023-2024 academic year.

A French cultural centre was established in 2003 in Baku, initially called the George Sand Centre, which became the Azerbaijan Institut Français in 2011.

The Lycée Français de Bakou has been closed since the start of the 2024-2025 academic year due to a unilateral decision by the Azerbaijani authorities.

Other cooperation

Azerbaijan chose to ignite an unprecedented crisis regarding its bilateral relations with France after its military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023: i) with the arbitrary detention of French nationals; ii) with pressure on France’s diplomacy and education apparatus in Azerbaijan; iii) with initiatives directed against France’s territorial integrity and attempts of interference in overseas departments, regions and communities, particularly New Caledonia, under the pretext of denouncing “French neo-colonialism”; iv) with information manoeuvres orchestrated and admitted at the highest level of the Azerbaijan government.