Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Latvia has expressed once again its support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

It came after the Latvian map publisher Jana Seta issued an atlas in which the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh was shown as the unrecognized territorial entity within Azerbaijan.

This map shows South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Northern Cyprus, Transdniestrian and other self-proclaimed territorial entities in the similar way.

The Azerbaijan Embassy in Latvia urgently reacted to the atlas. The ambassadors of the GUAM member states held an extraordinary meeting in Latvia at the initiative of Azerbaijani Ambassador to Latvia Elman Zeynalov. They also met with the Latvian foreign ministry's leadership.

The Azerbaijani Embassy handed over a letter from the Azerbaijani ambassador to the head of the Latvian Foreign Ministry. The embassy also expressed concern over the incident and made things clear with respect to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In response, the Latvian foreign ministry sent a note in which the Latvian government reiterated its official support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The document said the Jana Seta atlas is not for educational purposes and does not meet national education standards of Latvia and was not approved by the national education center.

The note also points out that Jana Seta is a private company, which does not express official position of the Latvian government.

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.

Long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.