Azerbaijan protests to Russia over Karabakh-related mistake
By Vafa Ismayilova
Azerbaijan has expressed its protest to Russia over the latter's Karabakh-related mistake, the Foreign Ministry has reported.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva made the remarks in reaction to the mention of the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh republic" in a tender announcement posted on the official website of Russia's unified trade information system (zakupki.gov.ru). The tender announcement pertains to the provision of Russian peacekeepers temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan.
"We would like to note that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry immediately conveyed its protest to Russia through diplomatic channels. It was brought to the attention of the oppisite side that such false information does not correspond to the spirit of friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries," Abdullayeva said.
The spokesperson stressed that Russia noted that "the issue is a technical error", "appropriate steps will be taken to eliminate it and such issues will be addressed in the future".
About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed for five years in Karabakh under the Moscow-brokered trilateral cease-fire deal signed in 2020. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied since the early 1990s.
The deal also stipulated the return of Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the peace deal, Azerbaijan liberated 300 villages, settlements, city centres, and historic Shusha city that had been under Armenian occupation for about 30 years.
On August 11, 2021, Azerbaijan urged the Russian peacekeepers to end the illegal deployment of Armenian troops on Azerbaijan’s territories under their temporary control.
Later on August 14, President Ilham Aliyev reiterated that Azerbaijan has recently identified that Armenian troops are being sent to Karabakh via the Lachin corridor that is controlled by the Russian peacekeepers and stressed that this contradicts the 10 November 2020 peace deal signed by Baku, Moscow and Yerevan.
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