Illegal import from occupied Azerbaijan lands disturbs Baku
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
The illegal import of products from Azerbaijan's occupied lands to European countries has prompted Baku to express its concern since such moves stand in opposition to legal business practices.
"Azerbaijan is extremely concerned over the illegal import of products from its occupied territories to Europe," Deputy Foreign Minister, Mahmud Mammadguliyev said.
Attending the first informal meeting of trade ministers of the Eastern Partnership countries and the European Union in Brussels, Mammadguliyev called for the EU to take preventive actions in view of those import operations from the occupied Azerbaijani lands.
"It is important for the EU to take all necessary measures for preventing those cases," he said.
According to unofficial data reported by Armenian media, foodstuffs and mulberry vodka are the main products the separatist regime exports illegally to foreign countries.
Azerbaijan's landlocked mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh is the subject of an unresolved conflict between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan. Close to the Soviet Union's collapse, in 1988, Azerbaijani troops and Armenian separatists engaged in a bloody war that ended in the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories - Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. Negotiations have so far failed to produce a permanent peace agreement mainly due to Armenia's persistent avoidance to exert its best efforts towards achieving peace, and the conflict still remains in a deadlock.
Baku has officially announced that the occupied territories are temporarily out of Azerbaijan's control. Any kind of activity in Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied lands without notifying Baku is viewed as a breach of Azerbaijan's law and international norms and principles. A special "black list" developed by the foreign ministry serves as a firewall against those who attempt to involve in any activity with the separatist rulers in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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