The visit of a group of French MPs to the breakaway region of Karabakh in no way changes official policy towards the territory, Paris has said.
Asked to comment on the visit, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told a regular press briefing on Tuesday that French policy on Karabakh remained unchanged.
"The parliamentarians were duly warned about our position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This trip makes no difference or changes to France's policy on this conflict," Valero said.
"France, like all the countries of the international community, including Armenia itself, does not recognize the independence of this territory.
"Its international juridical status can be defined only in the framework of a peaceful, fair solution agreed among all the parties concerned. France co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group, alongside the United States and Russia, and has been charged in this capacity with contributing to the search for a compromise based on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the proposals put forward by the French, American and Russian presidents several times, notably at the G8 summits in L'Aquila in 2009 and Muskoka in 2010."
The visit by five members of the French National Assembly, who did not first seek permission from Baku, prompted the Azerbaijani embassy in Paris to issue a note of protest.
The French Foreign Ministry responded that the Karabakh visit was not an official one made through the French National Assembly, but a private initiative by Guy Teissier, chairman of the parliamentary commission for defence and the armed forces.
Visits to the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh are technically illegal without permission from Baku. In practice, many people visit the breakaway territory.
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