Baku on good relations with other countries

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan will not let third countries harm its relations with its neighbors, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Elman Abdullayev made the remark at a briefing on August 28 while commenting on some media outlets' reports about an Israeli drone which was shot down over Iran's territory and was supposedly launched from Azerbaijan's territory.

"Creating good relations with neighboring countries, Baku follows these principles," Abdullayev noted.

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry also dismissed some media reports that the Israeli-made Hermes-450 drone downed in Iran was allegedly launched from Azerbaijan's territory.

Head of the ministry's press service, Colonel Vagif Dargahli told Trend news agency on August 27 that such provocative information is aimed at ruining Azerbaijan's relations with its neighbors.

Iranian servicemen said on August 23 that the Israeli spy drone "Hermes-450" was downed in the country's airspace. They added that the drone was launched to monitor the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz.

The Israeli side stressed that although it is an Israeli drone, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan are armed with it.

California Senate's resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh has no legal force

Abdullayev also commented on the resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh passed by the California Senate on August 27.

He said the resolution is declarative in nature and has no legal force, adding that it happened due to the Armenian lobby's financial support.

"This fact calls into question the honesty of the senators who voted for passing this document. This was possible thanks to the financial support of the Armenian lobby in the U.S.," Abdullayev stressed.

He went on to say that by voting for this resolution, Californian senators actually called for supporting the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, which contradicts international norms and principles.

"Despite the Armenian media's efforts,this document does not recognize the independence of the so-called 'Nagorno-Karabakh Republic'," he added. "The Senate has no such rights. The document is declarative in nature and testifies to the biased attitude of Californian legislators."

Abdullayev added that the resolution aims to mislead the Armenian people.

The anti-Azerbaijani resolution AJR 32 on Nagorno-Karabakh has been on the agenda of the California State Senate for some time. The resolution, calling for therecognition of a separatist regime in Azerbaijan's occupied territories, was introduced by Assemblyman Mike Gatto at the behest of the Armenian lobby.

Azerbaijan urges actions on illegal placement of Kurdish Yazidis in the occupied lands

Abdullayev said Azerbaijan urges the OSCE Minsk Group to respond sharply to the illegal placement of Kurdish Yazidis, the ethno-religious community living in Iraq, in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

Earlier, Armenian media quoted Head of the Yezidi Community in Armenia Aziz Tamoyan as saying that the World Union of Yezidis has decided to settle 200 Yezidi families suffering from violence by Islamic militants in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Such attempts and actions impede the negotiation process over Nagorno-Karabakh, and are contrary to the Fourth Geneva Convention," Abdullayev said.

He noted that similar attempts and actions have occurred in the past, and these facts are reflected in the statement of the OSCE mission on investigation about the illegal placement of people by Armenia in Azerbaijan's occupied territories.

Abdullayev went on to add that Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has informed international organizations of Armenia's attempts to illegally place the Yazidis in Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent occupied territories.