Baku criticizes Cypriot foreign minister for attributing Karabakh to Armenia, says Cypriot Turks have right to self-determination

Interfax - Russia & CIS Diplomatic Panorama
 Wednesday 6:28 PM MSK


Baku criticizes Cypriot foreign minister for attributing Karabakh to
Armenia, says Cypriot Turks have right to self-determination

BAKU. May 31

Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides's remark to the effect
that Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Armenia encourages Armenia's 'policy
of occupation' and is at odds with Nicosia's international
obligations, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev
said.

"The remark by Kasoulides goes directly against the obligations which
Cyprus has undertaken under international law, the Helsinki Final Act
and other documents and is an illustrative example of propaganda of
the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan and Yerevan's policy of
occupation," Hajiyev said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Remarks of the sort harm efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
fostering a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
lasting peace in the region," he said.

A number of media outlets earlier quoted Kasoulides as saying at a
meeting with Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, "It would be
wrong to compare Northern Cyprus to Nagorno-Karabakh because, in
contrast to Northern Cyprus, which is occupied by Turkey, Artsakh [the
Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh] is historically an Armenian
territory."

Hajiyev said this remark by Kasoulides is at odds with the opinion on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict maintained by the European Union, the
OSCE and the Council of Europe, whose member Cyprus is.

"What is more, the Cypriot foreign minister negates his own words by
making this controversial statement. I'd like to recall that, while
speaking at the January 26 meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in
the capacity of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers chairman,
Kasoulides said that Cyprus firmly supported the principles of
territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of
states," Hajiyev said.

"I should also say that Northern Cyprus is a territory for centuries
inhabited by Turks, who also have the right to self-termination,"
Hajiyev said.

"There are also some questions and suspicions about military
cooperation between Cyprus and Armenia. Hopefully, the European Union
and the OSCE will look into this matter from the angle of military
aspects of the conflict," he said.