Baku scrutinizes reports on Danish MPs' visit to Nagorno-Karabakh
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry is scrutinizing the reports about the visit by Danish parliament members and journalists to the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, spokesman Elman Abdullayev has said.
The delegation was received by Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan, Armenian media reported.
The delegation was reportedly headed by Chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs of the Danish Parliament, Eva Kjer Hansen.
Earlier, the Armenian media circulated reports saying that the "foreign minister" of the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Karen Mirzoyan had hosted a delegation of Danish MPs and journalists.
Abdullayev said that the Azerbaijani embassy in the UK was issued the necessary instructions, and a relevant decision will be made upon completion of the scrutiny.
The ambassador of Azerbaijan to the UK is also accredited to Denmark.
As soon as the list of persons who have paid the illegal visit is defined, Baku will state its clear position on the issue, Abdullayev said.
He said "the list of persona non grata" may be reconsidered in case any of them admits his or her mistake by making a relevant request to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
Recently, Abdullayev said persons who visit the occupied territories of Azerbaijan without having agreed upon this with relevant authorities of the country will be considered persona non grata in the country.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats over visits to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia, saying this contradicts international law. The Foreign Ministry has stated that such visits, paid without prior notification of the relevant authorities of Azerbaijan, are illegal and damaging to the settlement process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry released a list of those declared persona non grata over illegal visits to the Armenian-occupied territories, which included 335 people.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.