Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Ilhamgizi / Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) addressed appeals to the Embassies of the USA, Russia, Iran, Ukraine and Georgia in Azerbaijan with regards to the Song Festival planned to be held in Khankendy.
The appeal says that between 1 and 5 June, a Song Festival is planned to be held in the Azerbaijani lands occupied by the Armenians with the participation of citizens of Armenian origin of various countries. The KLO states that the participation of the citizens of other countries in the Festival will be assessed as disrespect for the territorial sovereign of Azerbaijan and will be a show of support to its aggressor Armenia. "We believe that your country will not attend the Armenian game. We ask you to clarify this issue and not to allow the citizens of your country to participate in the event. Otherwise, protest actions will take place," mentioned in the statement.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus appeared in 1988 due to the territorial claims of Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven Districts of the country surrounding it. From 1992 until the present, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
The Karabakh Organization Committee (KLO) was founded in Baku on 28 January 2000 with the aim of conducting a public struggle for the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh from the Armenian occupants. The organization, headed by Akif Nagi, a candidate in historical sciences, unites over 10,000 people, including outstanding representatives of intelligentsia, refugees and internally displaced people, youth, former fighters, senior ranking officers in reserve, as well as different social segments of the population.