TALKS WITH LEADER OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH SEPARATISTS IN LOS ANGELES CONTRADICTS U.S. POSITION – AZERBAIJANI CONSUL GENERAL
Author: A.Mammadova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Nov 9 2006
Elin Suleymanov, the Azerbaijani Consul General in Los-Angeles,
appealed to the Chairman of the World Affairs Council in Los-Angeles,
Kurtis Mack, Trend reports.
Suleymanov decided to write a letter to the Council following the
resolution by the Council on a meeting with the head of the separatist
regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arkadiy Ghoukassian.
"I appreciate the great work done by the World Affairs Council to
promote interest in international affairs. Therefore, given your
organization’s prominent role in Los Angeles area, I was both surprised
and disappointed to learn that the Council is planning an event for the
so-called ‘president’ of the unrecognized ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,"
the appeal says.
As you are well aware, the separatist Armenian regime established
on Azerbaijan’s territories occupied by Armenia is not recognized by
any single state, including the United States and even Armenia itself.
The facts of occupation and ethnic cleansing are well -documented
and recognized by the international community and the United States
Government. There are several UN Security Council resolutions calling
for the withdrawal of Armenian troops, and the United States is a
co-mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Furthermore, the "elections" held by the single -ethnicity Armenian
separatist regime, including those involving Mr. Ghoukassian, have
never been recognized and, in fact, have been condemned by the
international community, he emphasized.
The Consul General stressed that since Mr. Ghoukassian can speak only
on behalf of the Armenian separatists based in Nagorno-Karabakh, not
for the entire population of the occupied territories, and because the
Nagorno-Karabakh region is a universally accepted part of Azerbaijan,
he strongly urges to indicate the unrecognized nature of both the
speaker and the entity he claims to represent in your announcement. As
noted earlier, otherwise, it is misleading and, among other things,
contradicts the U.S. official position.
Furthermore, it would be only fair to provide representatives of the
Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh an opportunity to express
their views in the near future as well.