U.S. government distances itself from Californian officials’ planned visit to Karabakh
By Sara Rajabova
Foreign nationals continue paying illegal visits to the Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh despite warnings from the Baku government.
According to Armenian media reports, a delegation of Californian officials and representatives from the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) are expected to visit Nagorno-Karabakh.
Commenting on the reports, the U.S. embassy in Baku said the Obama administration has nothing to do with the planned visit to the region by Californian officials.
"We have seen media reports that a group of Californian state officials may travel to Nagorno-Karabakh," the embassy told Trend news agency. "The U.S. government is not involved in this reported trip."
The embassy said that the U.S. government's policy on Nagorno-Karabakh has not changed.
"We urge all sides to work together to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflict," it said.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry last month released a list of foreigners blacklisted for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh without Baku's permission. Elman Abdullayev, head of the ministry's press service, said such visits are illegal and damaging to peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million displaces by the war.
Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the US have produced no results so far.