Another protest action staged in Baku at the French Embassy

Opposition activists of the Civil Movement for Democracy "Public Chamber" (CMDPC) held a picket near the French Embassy to Azerbaijan. It was the third protest action in Baku over the past two days against the adoption by the French Senate of the bill that assumes criminalization of denial of the genocides, recognized as such by the laws of the country, including the Armenian Genocide.

However, in contrast to previous pickets, the action of the CMDPC took place in the atmosphere of confrontation of the police and the opposition.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, the police initially stopped the CMDPC supporters at the access to the French Embassy. Nevertheless, some small groups of oppositionists repeatedly broke through from different sides to the building of the diplomatic mission.

However, eventually, law enforcers managed, with great difficulty and by using force, to push the protesters back from the embassy to the Khaghani Garden, where they held a small rally.

More than 100 protesters were chanting: "Azerbaijan-Turkey!", "Freedom of expression is inviolable!" and "Shame on France!"

The resolution of the picket puts forward the following demands to the leadership of Azerbaijan: to express full solidarity with Turkey; to refuse from France's mediation in the OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh settlement and to ensure involvement of the EU and Turkey into the Group; to dissolve the inter-parliamentary friendship group with France in the National Assembly of Azerbaijan; to revise the economic relations with France, including in the oil and gas industries, and others.

Let us remind you that today at the Embassy of France an action with similar demands was held by activists of the Karabakh Liberation Organization, International Centre of Azerbaijani Diaspora and the organization named "Ataturk Thinking".