Details were added (first version posted on 12:13)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.3
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
The separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh will in no case be represented at World Travel Market exhibition, said the event's organizer Reed Exhibitions company.
The message came as a reply to the letter of Azerbaijani embassy in UK, said the acting spokesman of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev.
The exhibition opens in London today, on Nov. 3, and will also be open Nov. 4, through Nov. 6.
World Travel Market is the leading global event for the travel industry. It is a must attend business-to-business event presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to UK and International travel professionals.
Hajiyev said that the members of the UK-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary Friendship Group have appealed to the UK government on this issue as well.
"Reed Exhibitions company said that the separatist regime will in no case be represented at the World Travel Market tourism exhibition with a separate stand," the acting spokesman said. "At the same time, so-called Karabakh Tourism Development Agency hasn't been officially allowed to participate at this exhibition."
Hajiyev added that Azerbaijani embassy in UK continues to cooperate with UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Reed Exhibitions company on the issues related to presenting Azerbaijan's occupied regions under the name of 'Karabakh' on the pavilion of Tourism Department of Armenia's Economy Ministry.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI