Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani embassy in Russia has protested the invitation of representatives of the self-proclaimed republic operating in the Armenia-occupied territories to an international conference in Moscow.
The event entitled "After Kosovo: The commonwealth of unrecognized states on the road to recognition", was held by the Institute of CIS States headed by the first deputy chairman of State Duma (parliament) Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin. Russian officials attended the event as well. The embassy of Azerbaijan on Monday forwarded a protest note to the Russian Foreign Ministry condemning persistent illegitimate activities by Zatulin. It said such actions by a representative of the neighboring country's legislative authority and deputy head of the parliamentary committee were unacceptable.
Baku said further that the invitation of Russian Foreign Ministry and city officials to the conference was not in line with the spirit of strategic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia reflected in the concluded agreements and other political and legal documents.
The note requested that the Russian government provide an explanation concerning the conduct of the conference and prevent repetition of the developments.
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war over the mountainous region of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh in the early 1990s, which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan's internationally-recognized territory since then. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but the OSCE-brokered peace talks have been fruitless so far.