WE WILL NOT ALLOW FOREIGN MISSIONS TO ENTER NAGORNO-KARABAKH VIA NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES: AZERBAIJAN’S FOREIGN MINISTRY

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug 30 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Agayeva / Azerbaijan will never
allow any foreign mission entry into the occupied territories of
Nagorno-Karabakh region via the neighboring countries, said the Press
Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, Khazar Ibrahim.

Commenting on the statement of his Armenian colleague Vladimir
Karapetyan regarding the "unconstructive position of Azerbaijan who
does not allow the mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) headed by the PACE Ad hoc committee on culture,
Edward O’Hara, to visit Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakchivan Autonomous
Republic of Azerbaijan via Armenia", Ibrahim said that the Azerbaijani
side requires respect for its legislation and international law.

The mission was established in 2006 after Azerbaijan’s appeal,
requesting the organization of a mission to hold monitoring with
regards to the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural and its historical
monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Official Baku
considers that the mission should hold investigations in Armenia and
Azerbaijan, including the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia.

O’Hara’s visit has to take place at the end of August and beginning
of September. "The visit of the PACE mission on monitoring of cultural
monuments in South Caucasus is not linked with any problems.

The issue is discussed by the Foreign Ministries of both countries and
certain progressions are observed at the level of Foreign Ministers,"
O’Hara earlier reported to Trend.

The visit was postponed to an indefinite date.