Azerbaijani NGOs protest against illegal visits to Karabakh
By Rashid Shirinov
A group of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations have protested against the illegal visit of Turkish citizens to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan on September 22.
Without documents and consent from relevant executive authorities, four Turks Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu, Said Cekinoglu and Erol Katircioglu crossed the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan avoiding checkpoints. The Grave Crimes Investigation Department of Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under Criminal Code’s Article 318.2 (illegally crossing Azerbaijan’s state borders) against them.
That is, they deliberately traveled from territory of Armenia and illegally arrived in occupied Khankendi and other settlements of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. They have been declared in the international wanted list. Azerbaijan also sent an appeal to the Turkish law enforcement agencies in order to detain the four citizens.
The Azerbaijani NGOs stressed in their appeal that this visit was condemned by the foreign ministries of both Azerbaijan and Turkey.
“We as NGOs also strongly condemn the illegal actions of the Turkish citizens. Getting acquainted with the past of these individuals, one can see that their love for Armenia is not new – anti-Turkic, anti-Azerbaijani steps have always dominated in their activities,” the appeal reads.
The NGOs further noted that they support the decision of Azerbaijani official structures for the initiation of criminal proceedings against Turkish individuals.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of illegality of visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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