Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 8 / Trend, V.Zhavoronkova /
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza underscored neither the U.S., nor other state recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The U.S. policy towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan and Armenia stayed the same, Bryza told journalists on Saturday.
Speaking about California Senate Environmental Quality Committee chairman, Senator Joseph Simitian's visit to Nagorno-Karabakh, Bryza said generally he planned to visit Azerbaijan, Armenia and go home. Perhaps he changed his mind after he left Baku, Bryza said.
He said Senator Simitian had a very productive visit to Azerbaijan.
"During his visit, the possibility of his visiting to Nagorno-Karabakh never came up and nobody said anything about that. I never heard him mentioning about his possible travel to Nagorno-Karabakh. He did not asked my opinion."
Earlier, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has included Simitian into the "black list" , as he illegally visited the occupied territories of Azerbaijan without permission from Azerbaijan's appropriate agencies.
Simitian visited Nagorno-Karabakh, met with representatives of the separatist regime, the Armenian media reported.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by G.Dadashova