Azerbaijan, Baku, July 16 / Trend /
Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United States Yashar Aliyev sent a protest letter to The Washington Post newspaper in connection with the recent publications on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"Will Englund's July 7 news article, "In Karabakh, the first post-Soviet war," misrepresented the facts regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and failed to present the Azerbaijani position," Aliyev's letter reads.
The paper published an article about Nagorno-Karabakh on July 7. Moscow correspondent, Will Englund visited Nagorno-Karabakh and wrote about his trip. In his article, Englund used toponyms Stepanakert and Artsakh instead of Khankendi and Karabakh, distorted the historical facts and presented one-sided information about the conflict.
Aliyev said the article emphasized the Armenian interpretation of Stalin's 1921 decision to "assign" Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan, which in fact was the decision to retain Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan.
"Left out, however, was any mention of the million Azerbaijanis who became refugees and internally displaced persons, the four U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding withdrawal of occupying forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, and the crimes committed against Azerbaijanis, such as the Khojaly massacre of 1992," the letter reads.
Instead, the article amounted to an advertisement of the illegal separatist regime installed in Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia.
Then, in his July 8 news article ["Nagorno-Karabakh wants a seat at the table"], Mr. Englund disregarded the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh has had two communities - Azerbaijani and Armenian, Aliyev said.
"We hope that in the future The Post will pay equal attention to the Azerbaijani position," he stated.
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.