NIZAMI BAHMANOV: AZERBAIJANI COMMUNITY WILL ABSOLUTELY VISIT NAGORNO KARABAKH

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 3 2007

"The visit of Nagorno Karabakh’s Azerbaijani community to Khankandi
will be political, not an intellectual one. According to the format
adopted by OSCE Minsk Group in 1992, Azerbaijanis and Armenians lived
in Nagorno Karabakh. The position of all international organizations
is that the meting of the people lived in Nagorno Karabakh should be
held there," Nizami Bahmanov, head of "Nagorno Karabakh’s Azerbaijani
community" public union Nizami Bahmanov told APA.

He mentioned that the entire world wants the two communities, used to
live in Nagorno Karabakh before the conflict, again to live together.

"While commenting on the elections held by the separatist regime,
international organizations state that any election held without
participation of the people, who lived there, is null and void,"
he said.

Bahmanov said he does not know when the Azerbaijani community will
visit Nagorno Karabakh and but stressed that the visit will be
absolutely made.

The head of the community noted that the visit is arranged on the
initiative of Peter Semneby, special representative of the European
Union for the South Caucasus and mentioned that Terry Davis, former
rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, present Secretary General of the Council
of Europe once put forward such an initiative. Nizami Bahmanov said
that he is working on this visit along with OSCE co-chairs.

Bahmanov commenting on head of Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to
PACE Samad Seyidov’s advising chairman of Subcommittee Lord Russell
Johnston to visit Nagorno Karabakh through Azerbaijani territory
during the meeting of the Subcommittee on Nagorno Karabakh in the
framework of PACE session held in Strasburg called it just position.

"It is safe to visit Nagorno Karabakh through Azerbaijani
territories. Intellectuals’ visit show that there is no threat,
you will be in Khankendi in 40 minutes. Samad Seyidov demonstrated
just position and said that visiting occupied Azerbaijani territory
Nagorno Karabakh through Armenia is a wrong step. There is no problem
in providing necessary conditions for visiting Nagorno Karabakh
through Azerbaijan, Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of OSCE
Chairman-in-Office deals with it. He also visits occupied regions
through Aghdam," he said.