AZERI ENVOY PROTESTS US PAPER REPORT ON BREAKAWAY REGION
AzerTac News Agency
Oct 15 2007
Azerbaijan
15 October: Yasar Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the USA,
has sent a letter to the editorial office of the Washington Times
to protest at the publication of an article in the newspaper on 30
September. The report was headlined "A seceded state wages struggle
for recognition". The newspaper published the ambassador’s letter on
12 October.
The letter of the Azerbaijani diplomat said: "The author is trying to
portray this illegitimate regime which has carried out a mass ethnic
cleansing against local Azerbaijanis as the strongest democracy of the
region. Thousands of innocent Azerbaijanis were killed as a result of
Armenian aggression and more than a million Azerbaijanis were forced
to leave their native land and became refugees. It is unacceptable
to portray this as democracy building.
"What is more, the international community, the United States
and even Armenia itself do not recognize this regime. The United
Nations Security Council has passed four documents that recognize
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity – resolutions No 822, 853, 874 and
884. The fate of the Nagornyy Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is a very
painful and crucial challenge both for Azerbaijan and for the entire
region. Azerbaijan is loyal to its commitment to peaceful settlement
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict on the basis
of norms and principles of international law and UN Security Council
resolutions which demand restoration of territorial integrity and
sovereignty of Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan also advocates the withdrawal of the occupying Armenian
forces from the seized territories and wants the two communities of
Nagornyy Karabakh – Azerbaijanis and Armenians – to live in conditions
of peace and mutual cooperation."