Azerbaijan, Baku, June 6 / Trend S.Aghayeva /
The Azerbaijani Embassy in Spain delivered a note to the country's Foreign Ministry in connection with Montserrat Caballe's illegal trip to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the embassy told Trend.
On June 5, the head of the separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh Bako Saakyan received the world-famous opera singer Montserrat Caballe, the Armenian media reported.
Caballe's concert in Yerevan will take place on June 9 at the National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that such visits conducted without prior notification of the appropriate authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan are illegal and damaging to the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
According to the embassy, immediately following the media reports about the singer's planned trip to the occupied territory, the diplomatic mission contacted her manager on May 21 and warned of the illegality of such a visit. In response, the singer's manager said Caballe will only visit Yerevan, not traveling to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Following the meeting between the singer and the leadership of the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, the embassy handed a protest note to the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 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.