European Parliament Members urged to be attentive for their visits
By Rashid Shirinov
The European Parliament must contribute to the stability in the South Caucasus and making long-term political decisions.
Head of the Delegation of EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Association Committee, Sajjad Karim, made the remark in his statement issued in connection with the illegal visit of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to the Armenia-occupied Azerbaijani territories.
Karim reminded that the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office issued three international arrest warrants this week against MEPs Eleni Theocharous, Frank Engel and Jaromir Štětina for having visited Nagorno-Karabakh region and having, through their behavior, supported the illegal regime created there.
“On February 20, the MEPs named above carried out “observations” of a process organized locally in Nagorno-Karabakh region,” he said, mentioning that no official European Parliament observation mission has been organized in Nagorno-Karabakh region.
“Any impression given contrary to this is therefore without merit and completely unfounded,” he said. “The MEPs are free to visit areas of their choosing and promote their individual beliefs. At the same time, the MEPs should responsibly pay attention to the obvious fragility of the ceasefire and the need to support the political mediation processes in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and be clear of their unofficial individual status for all such visits.”
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan are considered illegal and individuals who pay such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s “black list”.
Earlier, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev said that the activities of those, who are included in the "list of undesirable persons" are reviewed in the complex and studied on crime element. "After that, legal prosecution mechanisms will be implemented if necessary.” Hajiyev cited the case of blogger Alexander Lapshin as an example.
Lapshin will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. He paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan’s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territorial integrity.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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