BRITISH PARLIAMENTARIAN BELIEVES HE WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN

TREND
21.09.2007 18:41:54

Great Britain, London /corr. Trend G.Ahmadova, A.Gasimova / The member
of the Chamber of Community of the British Parliament, Steven Pound,
said that he would like to visit Baku after his scandalous visit to
the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic which is in reality the
occupied territory of Azerbaijan.

"I would like to visit Azerbaijan, but due to my visit to Karabakh,
I can not do this," Pound mentioned in a response to the protest
letter of the representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in London.

Pound and several of his colleagues visited Karabakh at the end of
last month. After his visit Pound said publicly that Karabakh has
been Armenian land for millenniums, causing the Azerbaijani diaspora
in London to protest.

A member of the Azerbaijani diaspora in London reported to Trend that
after the protest letter, Pound mitigated his position and promised
to deeply study the issue and expressed his consent to fight for
objectivity.

Commenting on Pound’s statement, the Press Secretary of the Foreign
Ministry of Azerbaijan, Khazar Ibrahim, did not exclude the possibility
of permitting the British parliamentarian to visit Azerbaijan.

"He illegally visited Azerbaijani territories. In addition, if he
has positive intentions and wants to recognize his error, the issue
of permitting him to visit Azerbaijan may be considered," Khazar
Ibrahim said.

The British parliamentarian said that his visit to Karabakh in
September was aimed at only becoming familiarized with the realities
there. In Karabakh he was received by the so-called Speaker of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s Parliament, Ashot Gulian.

The protest letter sent to Pound, after his statement that Karabakh is
Armenian territory, provided historical facts testifying that Karabakh
belongs to Azerbaijan, proof of ethnical cleansing of Azerbaijanis
in Karabakh, Khojali, and other Azerbaijani regions.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Since
1992 Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijani land including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.