UK policy on Nagorno-Karabakh unchanged, embassy says after MPs' meeting with separatist regime rep
By Sara Rajabova
The UK Embassy in Azerbaijan has said a meeting of UK parliament members with representatives from "Nagorno-Karabakh authorities" was arranged by the Armenian authorities.
"We are aware of a group of UK parliamentarians visiting Armenia where the delegation met with representatives of the de-facto 'Nagorno-Karabakh authorities'," the Embassy said on September 19. "The UK government has no control over who individual MPs decide to meet."
According to the diplomatic mission, this does not represent a change in UK policy on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
"The UK does not recognize the de-facto 'Nagorno-Karabakh authorities' or their declaration of independence. The UK supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the OSCE Minsk Group-led peace process. Finally, we encourage Azerbaijan and Armenia to accelerate efforts to achieve a negotiated settlement based on the principles of refraining from the threat or use of force, territorial integrity and peoples' right to self-determination," the Embassy said.
Members of the Armenia-UK parliamentary friendship group Stephen Pound and John Whittingdale recently met with representative of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh Karen Mirzoyan.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats over visits to the Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia, saying this contradicts international law. The Foreign Ministry has stated that such visits, paid without prior notification of the relevant authorities of Azerbaijan, are illegal and damaging to the settlement process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry released a list of those declared persona non grata over illegal visits to the Armenian-occupied territories, which included 335 people.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.