Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic responded to the note of the Azerbaijani embassy in Prague regarding the illegal visits to Azerbaijan's occupied territories.

The ministry said it fully supports the principle of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and shares Baku's position on the prohibition of the commercial activities of foreign agencies in Armenian occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

The ministry further noted that had no relation to the activities of "GENOSERVİCE Corp., Ltd." in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Prague assured the Azerbaijani side that the project financing and insurance of the Company, by the state institutions Export Bank, the Corporation's of export guarantee and insurance, will be prevented.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and the individuals who pay such visits are included in Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's "black list".

The Foreign Ministry in 2013 released a list of 335 people declared 'persona non grata' over illegal visits to the Armenian-occupied territories. Some of these people were removed from the list after appealing to the Azerbaijani government.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats about visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling it contradictory to international laws.

Baku has stated that such visits, paid without prior notification to the relevant authorities of Azerbaijan, are illegal and damage the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.