Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan called on Canadian companies to abandon activities in Azerbaijan’s territories occupied by Armenia.

Khalaf Khalafov, Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister met with Barry Devolin, the member of the ruling Conservative Party of the Canadian Parliament and chairman of the Azerbaijan-Canada inter-parliamentary friendship group.

Khalafov stressed the inadmissibility of Canadian companies carrying out activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry reported on May 21.

He also urged the international community to refrain from implementing double standards policies and demonstrate a fair position in order to compel aggressor Armenia in observing a constructive approach to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict settlement.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. This led to a brutal war in the early 1990s that resulted in the killing of over 20,000 Azerbaijanis. 4,866 people went missing and over 100,000 were wounded, while 50,000 were made disabled.

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

Khalafov also stressed on the need for Canada’s active participation in this issue as a NATO member.

The Azerbaijani embassy in Canada earlier took all necessary measures in connection with the illegal organization of tourist trips to Azerbaijan’s occupied territory by "ToursbyLocals", which head office is located in Vancouver (Canada).

As a result of these measures, illegal tourist trips from this company to the occupied Azerbaijani territories have been suspended and all information on the organization of such illegal trips has been removed from its site.

Illegal activities in Azerbaijan occupied territories are a key issue for the Foreign Ministry and country’s diplomatic missions as they carry out extensive work to combat such illegal activities.

Canada recognized Azerbaijan’s independence on December 25, 1991. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on August 10, 1992.

In September 2004, Azerbaijan opened a resident Embassy in Ottawa.

Nowadays relations between Azerbaijan and Canada are enhancing. There is a solid platform within multinational institutions between the two countries. Azerbaijan and Canada have regular bilateral discussions on a wide range of issues, including international security and international development. The two countries cooperate on issues of international security (both countries are involved at a different level to a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan), combating organized crime, illegal trafficking, counter-terrorism and others

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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