AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY TO CLEAR UP U.S. FOUNDATION’S ILLEGAL OPERATION ON ARMENIA-OCCUPIED TERRITORY
Trend News Agency
Jan 14 2009
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 14 /Trend News, E.Rustamov/ Azerbaijan Foreign
Ministry will address relevant U.S. agencies to clear up the operation
of the U.S. Tufenkian Foundation on the Armenia-occupied territory
of Azerbaijan.
"The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry will address the relevant
U.S. agencies to clear up the operation of the U.S. Tufenkian
Foundation on the Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia –
Nagorno-Karabakh," Elkhan Polukhov, a spokesperson for the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry, told Trend News on Jan. 14.
Infrastructure is being reconstructed, a winery is being built, and
five hectares of pomegranate plantations have been already laid down
in the Lachin region in Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the Tufenkian
Foundation’s program, the Kavkazskiy Uzel reported.
"This fact is not the first. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry always
discusses these illegal actions. The United States recognizes
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. And Nagorno-Karabakh is
an integral part of the country. The Ministry will address the
U.S. Government to clear up the issue," said Polukhov.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.
The Tufenkian Foundation is an NGO and does not represent the
U.S. Government," Terry Davidson, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in
Azerbaijan, told Trend News.