Azernews.Az

US senator Joe Simitian has expressed disappointment with the Azerbaijani government's blacklisting him over an unauthorized visit to the Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region, but said he would continue dealing with the Karabakh conflict.

The ethnic Armenian senator recently visited Baku, Yerevan and afterwards headed to Nagorno Karabakh, though other members of the delegation of California lawmakers accompanying him refused to travel to the occupied region with him. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry labeled Simitian "persona non grata" over the visit, which was paid without official authorization, and barred him from the country.

Simitian said that after hearing Azerbaijani officials’ concerns regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, he "felt obligated" to visit Khankandi -- the center of the self-proclaimed republic run by ethnic Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh -- to "hear out the opposite side".

US embassy spokesman Keith Bean said earlier that the California Senate member does not represent the US government and the visit does not change US policy on the Karabakh conflict, reiterating that the U.S. has not recognized the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Nagorno Karabakh has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since a 1994 cease-fire ended a war that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted up to one million Azerbaijanis from their homes.

The separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh declared so-called independence at the time of the Soviet collapse in 1991, but it has not been recognized by the world community.