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Turkish citizens’ illegal visit to occupied Azerbaijani lands is shameful: lawyer

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 22 October 2017 12:17 (UTC +04:00)
The visit of the Turkish nationals who violated Azerbaijani laws to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region is shameful.
Turkish citizens’ illegal visit to occupied Azerbaijani lands is shameful: lawyer

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 22

By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:

The visit of the Turkish nationals who violated Azerbaijani laws to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region is shameful, Zeki Ariturk, Turkish lawyer and founder of Ekol Hukuk law firm, told Trend.

He noted that from a legal point of view, criminal prosecution of those persons will unfortunately require certain procedures.

“According to the last paragraph of Article 38 of the Turkish Constitution, if the country’s citizens commit crimes in the territory of a foreign state, they cannot be extradited to this state, and can be convicted only in accordance with the Turkish legislation and serve their sentences in the country,” Ariturk said.

He also noted that, according to the Turkish laws, the country’s citizens are not forbidden to visit any country or territory.

Ariturk added that, however, if the Turkish citizens’ visit was aimed at setting the Armenians living in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh against the statehood of Azerbaijan, they should be prosecuted for promoting aggression in accordance with Turkey’s Criminal code.

He further noted that there should be no support to persons who betrayed the relationship between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

On September 22, Turkish citizens Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu, Said Cekinoglu and Erol Katircioglu illegally visited Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, occupied by the Armenian armed forces.

Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the illegal visit of Turkish citizens to the occupied Azerbaijani territories did not reflect Ankara’s official policy.

Grave Crimes Investigation Department of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under the Criminal Code’s Article 318.2 (illegally crossing Azerbaijan’s state borders). All four individuals are accused under the abovementioned article. A measure of restraint in the form of arrest was chosen against them. They were declared internationally wanted.

An appeal was sent to the Turkish law enforcement to detain the four individuals.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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