Azerbaijan has blacklisted French presidential hopeful Valerie Pécresse over her visit to Artsakh.
According to Azerbaijani media reports, Charge d’Affaires of France was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
He was handed a note of protest and told that “such trips harm the Azerbaijani-French bilateral relations.”
The Ministry noted that Pécresse and the French citizens accompanying her have now been included in the “black list,” meaning they will not be able to visit Azerbaijan.
On a visit to Armenia, Valerie Pécresse held meetings with President Armen Sarkissian, Ararat Mirzoyan, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II.
She also visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial and the Yerablur Military Pantheon.
Valerie Pécresse then headed for Arthsakh, where she met with the authorities.
Earlier this month France’s conservative France’s Conservative Party chose Valérie Pécresse, the moderate chief of the Paris region, to challenge President Emmanuel Macron next year.
Pécresse will be the Party’s first-ever female presidential candidate and presents herself as a voice of moderation.
Pécresse won almost 61 percent of the vote among party members while Ciotti won just over 39 percent, Jacob said. Ciotti accepted defeat and immediately pledged to support Pécresse.
