By Trend
France, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, should take the
necessary steps to prevent the entry of representatives of illegal
regime, created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, into its
territory with Armenia’s diplomatic passports, as these visits
violate the Schengen visa rules, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s
Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend.
The official was responding to Trend’s question about the recent
events in France, held with relation to the unrecognized, illegal
Nagorno-Karabakh regime, established on the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan.
Hajiyev reminded that on July 2, 2015, the French government at
the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of
Internal Affairs of the country sent a circular to local
prefectures and high commissars.
Local authorities were warned about restrictions on powers in
the sphere of international cooperation, and local authorities were
forbidden to sign, in opposition to the policies of the central
authorities and international obligations of France, documents on
international cooperation with the regimes that are not recognized
by the French government, including the illegal regime created in
Nagorno-Karabagh, said Hajiyev.
He emphasized that the establishment of relations of a French
town or a settlement with the illegal regime created in the
occupied Azerbaijani territories is nothing more than
self-deception.
“Practice shows that the heads of such towns and settlements are
engaged in such amateur activity in order to enlist the support of
the local Armenian community in local election. To this end, they,
violating moral and ethical norms, try to turn a blind eye to the
fact that this illegal regime is the result of occupation,
aggression and bloody ethnic cleansing,” noted the spokesman.
“The Armenian lobbying organizations, instead of contributing to
the achievement of sustainable peace in the region and the
conflict’s settlement through negotiations and mediation by the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, one of which is France, are engaged in
deception and misappropriation of funds of the Armenian diaspora
representatives,” added the Azerbaijani official.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries 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 districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council
resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the
Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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