Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani community in Germany has protested at the Uruguayan foreign minister over his terming Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno Karabakh region as Armenia’s territory.

The Coordination Center of Azerbaijanis in Germany expressed its objection in a letter sent to Uruguay’s embassy in Berlin.

Minister Luis Almagro claimed at a conference on Uruguay-Armenia relations in September that Nagorno Karabakh is an historic Armenian territory and that the only suitable way to settle the Karabakh conflict is the region’s annexation to Armenia.

According to Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Work with the Diaspora, the Center’s letter said the minister’s remarks were "not thought out".

The letter said that a diplomat should be guided "not by his personal insight, but historical facts".

"This step does nothing to promote understanding between nations and could have a negative impact on the political relations between Azerbaijan and Uruguay," it added.

Nagorno Karabakh has been occupied by Armenian armed forces, along with seven surrounding Azerbaijani regions, since the 1994 cease-fire ended a brutal war that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted up to one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Years of the OSCE-brokered peace talks have brought few tangible results.

The separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh held an illegal referendum in 1991 with the participation of only Armenian residents of the region and declared so-called independence. The self-proclaimed republic has not been recognized by the world community.