Author: Lena Karagyozian

Trend News Agency (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency
November 4, 2017 Saturday


Azerbaijan will make protest to CNN, says Foreign Ministry

by Leman Zeynalova, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan


Nov. 04--Trend's interview with spokesperson of Azerbaijan's Foreign
Ministry, Hikmat Hajiyev

Q: CNN Greece has presented a story from Azerbaijan's occupied
territories. How would you comment on this?

A: As it can be seen, the story is one-sided and biased. It propagates
the illegal regime created in Azerbaijani territories occupied by
Armenian armed forces and distorts the essence of the conflict. It is
also obvious that the story was prepared on commercial conditions at
the request of Armenian Defense Ministry and is of political
advertising nature. Regretfully, CNN Greece fulfills non-objective and
biased political orders. We will convey our objection to CNN on this
issue.

Q: In the mentioned CNN story, Armenia's defense minister touches upon
the UN Security Council's resolutions. What's your opinion on that?

A: The UN Security Council has adopted 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 854
(1993) and 884 (1993) resolutions on Armenia-Azerbaijan
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, condemning the occupation of Azerbaijani
lands, confirming Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, sovereignty and
inviolability of its borders, and demands immediate, absolute and
unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from Azerbaijan's
territories.

The resolution 874 welcomes and commends the adjusted timetable of
urgent steps to implement Security Council resolutions 822 and 853 set
out by OSCE Minsk Group and all its members. The document, prepared in
accordance with the mandate of the resolution 853, envisages
stage-by-stage withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan's
occupied lands within a concrete schedule.

In his SG/SM/5469 speech, dated October 31, 1994, the UN secretary
general openly said the UN position is based on four principles which
are reflected in different resolutions of the UN Security Council. The
first principle is Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. The second
principle is the inviolability of international borders. The third
principle is the unacceptability of the use of force for acquisition
of territory, and the fourth principle is the immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of all foreign troops from occupied
territories of Azerbaijan.

Instead of preparing the Armenian people for peace in accordance with
the international law, Armenia's defense minister illiterately tries
to explain the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia.

At the same time, he distorts the UN Security Council's resolutions in
a ridiculous way and thereby tries to deceive the Armenian people and
the international community. Such a distorting action undermines the
peace process for the conflict's settlement.

Q: Armenia's defense minister also touches upon the issues related to
the European Union and Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
How would you comment on that?

A: The European Union expressed its decisive and unequivocal position
on the developments in Spain's Catalonia. As it said, there should be
respect to territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of
borders of states, and territorial integrity of states can't be
violated against the will of the central government and people.
Respect to territorial integrity and sovereignty of EU and non-EU
states has also been indicated in the EU Global Strategy as the main
principle.

What makes the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict different
is that Armenia has occupied Azerbaijani lands using force and has
carried out ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories. Violation
and occupation, from which Europe suffered during the Second World
War, stand at the core of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

The adoption of 1975 Helsinki Final Act once again reaffirmed the
inadmissibility of attempts to change internationally recognized
borders of states by using force and the principle of inviolability of
borders.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Saturday


Newly appointed French Ambassador to Armenia presented credentials to
RA President

Yerevan October 14

Naira Badalyan. On October 13, the new Ambassador of France to
Armenia, Jonathan Lacote, presented credentials to Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan. The press service of the Armenian leader reports.

The President wished the diplomat success and expressed his hope that
the Ambassador will open a new page in Armenian-French relations with
his active work. The Armenian President and the French Ambassador
agreed that the privileged Armenian-French relations, developing in
ascending order, fully reflect the spirit of friendship between the
two peoples. Serzh Sargsyan considered symbolic the fact that the
newly appointed ambassador starts his mission in Armenia in the year
when Armenia and France celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic
relations.

Stressing that there is a stable political dialogue between the two
countries, active high-level interaction and mutual visits, Serzh
Sargsyan stressed the importance of intensifying trade and economic
relations between Armenia and France. The President of Armenia
stressed the role of the interparliamentary partnership in
strengthening and deepening interstate relations, noting with
satisfaction that the Armenian and French parliamentarians cooperate
effectively not only in bilateral formats, but also within the
framework of international parliamentary organizations. The President
of the Republic attached importance to the activity of the friendship
group established in 2013 in the French Parliament with
Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the meeting, the sides touched upon the prospects for the
development of Armenia-EU relations, including the preparatory work
for the signing of the Agreement on Comprehensive and Enhanced
Partnership in the near future in Brussels. Serzh Sargsyan stressed
the importance and appreciated the active participation of France in
the negotiation process for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict as a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Touching upon cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural spheres,
the Armenian President and the French Ambassador highly assessed the
summit of the International Organization of Francophonie countries,
which will be held in Armenia in 2018.

Lacote replaced Jean-Francois Charpentier, who held this position
since 2014. Earlier, the 45-year-old Lacote was the adviser to the
French ambassador to the UK, he also worked in the French Foreign
Ministry, in the bureau for Europe, at the French embassies in
Montenegro and Germany. Lacote speaks English, German, Russian,
Spanish, Estonian, Hungarian and Serbo-Croatian.