Azernews.Az

CALIFORNIA – The Azerbaijani community in the United States has protested at the planned participation of the leader of the self-proclaimed Nagorno (Upper) Karabakh republic at a California event.

California’s World Affairs Council (WAC) has said on its website that it will hold on November 19 a conference titled ""Turmoil in the Caucasus - A Nations’ Right for Self Determination and Prospects for Regional Stability", which will be attended by Bako Saakyan.

"Bako Saakyan is not president of any republic, he is the leader of a puppet separatist regime created by the Armenian authorities in Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, in occupied Karabakh," the US Azerbaijanis Network (USAN) said in a letter sent to WAC Chairman Timor Rafiq. "He is leaving on his visit not with the passport of the non-existent ‘Artsakh-Nagorno Karabakh Republic’, but an Armenian passport, and obtaining a US visa. This regime has not been recognized by anyone, including the US government."

The Azerbaijani diaspora urged WAC to cancel the conference and not to present or recognize Saakyan as the president of the so-called Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Nagorno Karabakh is an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended a war that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible results.

The World Affairs Council of California’s Orange County is one of 86 such non-profit non-government organizations throughout the United States.